The Interior Ministry on Saturday refuted the Punjab government’s claims that its letter on the use of debt bondage in border villages was “motivated” and pointed to “serious allegations”. The ministry, in a letter addressed to the Punjab DGP and the chief secretary, said: “No motive can be attributed to a letter issued by this Ministry to a particular State or States, as this is part of routine communication. on matters of public order “. The letter was also sent to the secretary of the Union’s Ministry of Labor and Employment with a “request to carry out an awareness-raising exercise in all states, with the aim of stopping the deception of vulnerable victims by unscrupulous elements.”
News 18 had reported on Friday that the Center had informed the Punjab government that 58 people with mental disabilities from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were found working as bonded labor in the state’s border districts – Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Abohar – and asked him to take appropriate measures to deal with the “serious” problem.
In a letter to Punjab’s chief secretary, the Union Ministry of the Interior said that most of them worked with farmers in border villages and that the Border Security Force (BSF) found that they were brought into the state with the promise of a good salary but exploited. drugged and forced to work in inhumane conditions.
Punjab agricultural unions, which have been protesting against the Center’s agricultural laws, reacted strongly to the MHA letter stating that it was an attempt to smear state farmers and drive a wedge between them and their counterparts in Bihar and UP.
Shiromani leader Akali Dal and former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said the report should be withdrawn immediately and the real reason why some people with mental disabilities came to the border areas should be examined. “It is a” ridiculous assumption purely aimed at defaming the farmers of the state, “Chandumajra said in the statement, adding that those letters from the Interior Ministry will send a” wrong signal “to the entire country and create an” atmosphere of confrontation. ” .
However, MHA dismissed these claims in its clarification. Some of the news about the letter has been juxtaposed in a totally unrelated context to the conclusion that the MHA has brought ‘serious charges’ against Punjab farmers and has also linked this to ongoing farmer agitation. The letter clearly and uniquely establishes that the “human trafficking unions” hire these workers and are “exploited, poorly paid and subjected to inhumane treatment”, in addition to luring them with drugs to extract more labor that affects their “physical health and mental, “the letter said. .
He added that the Ministry has only asked the state government or governments to “take appropriate measures to address this serious problem.”
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