Alien bug bites state cops

Ujjwala Nayudu from Ahmedabad,Anupam Chakravartty from Vadodara,Hiral Dave from Rajkot and Kamaal Saiyed from Surat piece together the big picture.

AHMEDABAD

The bustling city has a sizeable presence of migrant workers coming from neighbouring Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,working as construction labourers or in industries and unorganised sectors. The city police believe they are responsible for increase in the incidents of theft,loot,break-ins as well as illegal trade of arms.

The police have tied up with an Udaipura-based NGO that has base in Gujarat and MP to prepare a database of migrant labourers in the state. In Ahmedabad and north Gujarat,most of the labourers come from districts like Dungarpur and Banswada in Rajasthan and are employed as domestic helps,cooks,vegetable vendors and construction workers.

“It will help us identify these migrants in the city and in criminal incidents where backgrounds have to be verified,this data would be helpful,” Joint Commissioner of Police Satish Sharma said.

Former DGP S S Khandwawala,who retired a few days ago,had asked all police commissionarates to collect details of migrant labourers in their areas. Additional DGP (law and order) Sudhir Sinha said,“The pace at which data was being complied was very slow.”

Now,the police in Ahmedabad have begun distributing ID cards to labourers after verifying their antecedents. “The card contains details of their permanent address,photo,mobile numbers and signatures of their gram panchayat heads,” said inspector J B Gadhvi who is involved in the project.

CENTRAL GUJARAT

After a string of daring robberies,the Dahod police held meetings with the police in neighbouring Jhabua and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh to work out modalities of issuing identity cards to migrant labourers from there who come to Gujarat to work in factories and stone quarries.

Dahod SP N N Chaudhary said Jhabua-based gangs were found to be involved in a number of robbery incidents. “In our first meeting with MP police held in November,it was suggested that we issue identity cards to migrant labourers with their key personal details to be also recorded at the police station nearest to their work place,” said Chaudhary. Two more such meetings are lined up for December or January next year to finalise details.

In Vadodara city,five labour contractors were even booked for not submitting details of migrant workers who came during the last six months.

SAURASHTRA

The police at Bhavnagar,where the proposed nuclear plant is to come up,and Jamnagar,where the Reliance Refinery is located,have already begun the process of compiling a database.

“We have given a sample form to the ship and plot owners at Alang ship-breaking yard. They are supposed to submit details of all labourers working with them,” said Bhavnagar SP V Chandrashkar,adding the exercise began about six months ago and so far the department has received database for over 4,000 migrant labourers. “It is beneficial for the police as well as for labourers. For police,it will help check crime. And in case anything happens to labourers,it can be useful if owner and police have their details,” said Charashekhar.

Alang,Asia’s biggest ship-breaking yard,has over 30,000 migrant labourers,mainly from UP and Bihar. Many accidental deaths have been reported in the past from Alang that has 127 ship-breaking plots.

In Jamnagar,the police have also been collecting data on domestic helps,besides industrial workers. Jamnagar,which has two petrochemical refineries,has a migrant population of around 20,000.

“The police have asked refineries to submit details of the labourers at their sites,” said Jamnagar SP Subhash Trivedi. “Besides,even residents have been asked to submit details in case they have employed domestic helps,” he added. Trivedi said the police are also keeping records of all non-Gujarat trucks that enter the city limits.

SURAT

The police in the city,which has a teeming population of workforce from Orissa,Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,are cold to the idea of preparing a database.

Surat police commissioner Shivanad Jha said,“We don’t have any such database on migrant labourers but if any NGO shows interest in compiling it,we are ready. We have told the textile unit owners to maintain records of the labourers with their photographs so that it helps us check crime.”

The industry in Surat thrives on the migrant workforce,which runs into lakhs.