New Delhi, July 15 (Inditop.com) BJP MP Shahnawaz Hussain, whose Bhagalpur constituency is home to thousands of migrant workers who labour at construction projects in Delhi and elsewhere, has sought compensation and jobs in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to family members of those who died in an accident at a metro site Sunday.
“I have written to the urban development minister (S. Jaipal Reddy) to pay them compensation and give employment to at least one person from the families of those who died,” Hussain, who is an MP from Bhagalpur, to which three of the workers who were killed in the mishap belonged, told IANS.
He said he had initiated the process to identify workers from his constituency in Delhi and create a database of such migrants he could help when in trouble.
The issue has brought into focus the larger issue of millions of Biharis migrating to various states in the country due to the lack of adequate job and subsistence opportunities back home. Three of those who died in the accident were from Lattipur village in the state.
Hussain was quick to clarify that this village was originally not part of his constituency earlier and had been included in the April-May elections after delimitation.
The former central minister said checking migration should be a joint effort of the state government and the central government.
“This is why we are asking the centre to provide a special package for the state. Since I come from the ruling NDA (National Democratic Alliance) in Bihar, I am not saying it is not my government’s responsibility to check migration,” he added.
According to the 2001 census, more than 1.6 million people out of Bihar’s 8.2 crore population had migrated to other states. Most of them are landless farmers, poor workers and a large number of skilled labour from urban areas.
Bihari migrant workers have been targeted in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra and in Assam in the last couple of months.
Census 1991 brought out an interesting trend. The population entering Bihar was 364,337 and that exiting the state was more than three times higher at 1,226,839.
