Hello Hemendra, Welcome to the group and I hope you will enjoy our company and make useful contribution to the group discussion. I have just returned from Jharkhand after extended tour and I am fully aware of the plight of the labourers of Jharkhand and in particular of Adibasi labourers.I am a native of Santal Pargana and am Santal but I managed to get out of the deprived and neglected area of old Bihar more than 45 years ago and have domociled in Uk as a doctor. But this was an exception in those days.But unfortunately the majority of santals are still poor,deprived and neglected and are migrating to other parts of India and abroad for their livlihood. They are willing to go even to the the high risk areas for bread and butter. They need our guidance and support to see them through their hard time.Please keep us informed about their condition. With best wishes Dhuni Soren
--- In Jharkhand@yahoogroups.co.in, hemen narayan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dear Moderator, > Many thanks for accepting me a member of the group. > Being a journalist here goes the first message- a news story of mine printed in the Statesman. > > I am sure it will interest the members. > > With very best wishes > > Hemendra Narayan > .............. > > Rise in number of Dumka labourers in BRO projects > > Hemendra Narayan > NEW DELHI, April 14: Bishram Oraon from Jharkhand, a Dumka labourer in Border Roads Organisation (BRO) parlance, was lucky to have escaped with injuries in Saturday morning's suicide attack in Afghanistan, while the attack left two engineers dead and four others from BRO injured. The workers were working on a project at Khasrod district in the southern Nimroz province of the violence- torn country. Indians are engaged in the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram road which is to be completed this year. > When in November 2005 Taliban rebels had abducted some workers and killed a BRO driver from Kerala, there was a sense of relief in Jharkhand. For at that time no Jharkhand worker had been employed by the Army's road construction company to work in Afghanistan. > But this time Bishram had a providential escape. Over the years Jharkhand labourers have built up extremely strong ties with BRO. Today even a causal search of the BRO's website for common surnames of Jharkhand tribals like Soren, Oraon, Manjhi, Marandi or Murmu yields more than 200 names. > They may belong to different districts of Jharkhand but BRO collectively (unofficially) designates them as "Dumka labourers". Dumka is the headquarters of the Santhal Paraganas districts. > These workers have done pioneering work in road construction whether it was the Aizawl-Lunglie highway in Mizoram or in Tripura facing the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. These labourers have worked on national highways criss-crossing the hills of the north-east and also in Jammu and Kashmir. > Licensed contractors in Jharkhand pick up these labourers by organising camps. They have at times been targets of militants resulting in casualties. While the BRO provides much needed job opportunities to these tribals, it is also preferred as it is a government body. They are hired after proper medical examination in presence of representatives from the defence organisation. Those hiried are told where the men would be working. > If there are areas in Kerala which thrive on money earned by BRO workers, the scene is not greatly different in some villages of Santhal Parganas and Deoghar districts in Jharkhand. > The BRO projects are generally in hostile and difficult environment, where private companies are not willing to work, due to various factors including security and harsh climate. No wonder the job takes a heavy toll. Lives have been lost to militancy, natural calamity and road accidents. The BRO also has projects in Tajikistan, Myanmar and Bhutan. > - > ends > > >
