Pvt bus carrying migrant workers ‘like cattle' inspected
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Koraput: A joint team of the regional transport office and the labour department in Malkangiri district conducted a surprise inspection on Thursday morning of a private bus which was on way to Junagarh in Kalahandi district from Hyderabad after allegations of inhumane transportation of migrant workers from western Odisha surfaced.
The bus, identified as 'Sri Balaji', was intercepted near MV-16 village. The officials found that the vehicle was carrying 110 passengers despite having a seating capacity of only 35. Many of the passengers were migrant labourers from Balangir, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur districts, some accompanied by entire families.
"Based on complaints of overloading, we conducted a raid and found gross violations of safety norms.
Passengers were packed in an inhuman manner," said Bhagirathi Naik, regional transport officer, Malkangiri. "The bus owner was penalized as per law and our inspections on private buses will continue in the coming days to curb such practices."
Sources said that the migrants were being transported 'like cattle' by labour contractors and middlemen, who reportedly charged nearly double the standard bus fare. The raid comes just two days after a Hyderabad-bound bus was involved in an accident at Bijaghat, about 8 km from Malkangiri town, raising alarm over the safety of migrant transport.
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In the aftermath of the raid, the labour department arranged for an alternative bus to return the stranded workers to their respective villages. District labour officer (Malkangiri) Purnima Duruka confirmed that her department has requested counterparts in Balangir and Nabarangpur to take legal action against the middlemen involved in the trafficking of labourers.
Meanwhile, local labour unions welcomed the crackdown and demanded regular checks to prevent the exploitation of workers. "Had these inspections been conducted earlier, such blatant violations would not have occurred," said a union representative.
"We urged the authorities to maintain consistent oversight of buses headed to Hyderabad," he added.
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