Bengal migrant workers denied Jan, Feb pays, while contractors go missing

Several migrant workers who are back in West Bengal have not been paid dues for close to two and half months, when they slogged for close to eight hours a day

For Samaresh Mondal, who used to work as a welder at an automotive spare parts factory in Tamil Nadu, a month’s wage delay was not unusual.

But this time around, the normally reticent man is vocalising his anger. His wages are long overdue. He feels short-changed. He knows the nose-to-grindstone approach to work will yield no rewards.
 

Just days before the nationwide lockdown kicked into gear on March 25, Mondal had returned to Hingalgunj, a block in the Sundarbans region in West Bengal. 

Before packing his bags, Mondal had left his bank details with the contractor, with the expressed assurance his wages