COVID-19: Locals protest return of migrant workers to Bengal factory

Protests erupted in a village in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday after migrant workers from other states returned to work in a nearby biscuit factory amid the COVID-19 outbreak, police said.

Following the protests at the factory, the 50 migrant workers were shifted out of the establishment and placed under institutional quarantine in a nearby facility. They will be sent back to their places of origin if necessary, an official in the district administration said.

Related News: Engage COVID-hit migrant workers in Jal Jeevan Mission: Centre tells states

Villagers gheraoed the factory in Ambari Falakata area under Binnaguri gram panchayat and prevented even local workers from entering the facility after a bus carrying 50 migrant labourers from other states arrived at the establishment earlier in the day, an officer said.

The migrant workers employed in the factory had gone to their native places after the COVID-19 outbreak. They had informed the factory authorities about their return, stating they were unable to sustain themselves in their hometowns without work, sources said.

The authorities of the factory have fled the establishment after the eruption of the protests, fearing reprisals from the locals, they said.