KOLKATA: A total of 138 labourers and workers, who had gone to Jammu and Kashmir to earn a living, were brought back from Srinagar on November 04.
Their return comes in the wake of a terror attack last month in which five labourers from West Bengal were killed in Kulgam in October 29.
While 133 workers are from Murshidabad, Dinajpur and Maldah in West Bengal, five are from Assam.
The Mamata Banerjee government facilitated the return of the workers back home from Kashmir.
Speaking to the media, Firhad Hakim, Mayor of Kolkata and Minister-incharge Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, said the workers will be sent to their homes.
“We have brought them. We have arranged for buses which will take them to their homes in their respective districts,” he said.
Make way back to Kashmir if govt failsÂ
Meanwhile, labourers, who has lost thier livelihood are claiming that there is no work in West Bengal for them and if the Bengal government fails to do anything, then they will have to make their way back to Kashmir for livelihood.
One of the labourers said, “There is no work here, if government provides us something, we’ll stay, else we’ll have to return to Kashmir to feed ourselves.”
Mamata targets Central govt
On Thursday, Banerjee had targeted the Central government over the killing and said, “Now, entire Jammu and Kashmir administration is in the hands of the central government. With all the precautions in place when EU parliamentarians were visiting Kashmir, how were the labourers killed?”
Expressing shock and grief over the unfortunate incident, she said that all help will be extended to the families in this tragic situation.