Jaipur: The information and public relations department of the Rajasthan government on Wednesday sent a rejoinder to The Wire‘s report, ‘Rajasthan: No Free Ride for Migrant Workers, Government charges Rs 675 Per Person’ published on May 11, calling it “factually incorrect” and “far from truth” (sic).
“The contents of the story have created doubt in the minds of readers whereas a clear decision of government of Rajasthan is in place to the effect that the rail fare for shifting of migrant labourers act is to be borne by the government of Rajasthan and not by migrant labourers,” reads the rejoinder.
“As per the decision of government of Rajasthan, the fare is being paid by the government in the account of railways and in case of Barmer to Motihari Train about which the news item was posted, the rail fare was not borne by migrant labourers but the same was paid by government/company,” it adds.
The Rajasthan government’s reply to The Wire.
The rejoinder also appended the Barmer collector’s report stating that the fare of Rs 600 for 1,200 workers (Rs 4.05 lakh) who went to Bihar from Barmer through the shramik special train was paid by the state government, while the remainder was paid by the contractors/companies.
The Wire‘s correspondent, Shruti Jain, replies:
The Wire stands by its story, which was based on statements from migrant workers who had paid Rs 675 in cash to their contractors, who later submitted this amount to the North-Western Railway Zone’s bank account.
These statements were verified by a list made by one of the contractors – Roshan Traders – working for Vedanta Cairn Energy India Limited in Barmer while collecting cash from workers. It had the workers’ names with the cash amount (Rs 675) paid by them.
List made by a contractor in Barmer while collecting ticket fares in cash from migrant workers.
This list was found to have the same names as were forwarded by Roshan Traders to the sub-divisional magistrate, Barmer while depositing their fare online to the railways.
List of workers forwarded by the contractor to the SDM, Barmer containing the same names.
The Wire‘s story had noted that the authorities had indeed asked the contractors/companies to pay the ticket fare for workers under them by quoting district collector Vishram Meena. However, the fact remains that migrant workers had to pay the fare themselves and could not travel home for free.