Skip to main content

IIM-A rejects legal notice: Public authorities 'didn't arrange' trains for migrant workers

By Our Representative
In a rejoinder to the legal notice served on the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) director following unrest outside the IIM-A campus IIM-A, in a statement has asserted that the unrest of the workers from the construction site was not about wages and living conditions “but about the delay in obtaining travel permits and the arranging of transportation by the public authorities to take them back to their home states.”
Legal notice, served by senior advocate of the Gujarat High Court Anandvardhan Yagnik “on behalf of migrant workers”, argues that the unrest among the workers, which led to clashes with the police and several detentions, was the result the workers seeking to to go back to their home states, Jharkhand and West Bengal, for the last more than 20 days because they were not paid their “earned wages because of the lockdown.”
Rejecting the allegation, the IIM-A said, “The contractor co-ordinated with the administration for the repatriation of the workers. Workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were provided trains but unfortunately the public authorities did not arrange for trains to Jharkhand and West Bengal.”
It added, “Our interest is in the well-being of the worker unlike the case that is being presented in the legal notice. The issues raised in the notice do not stand the test of scrutiny and yet it is being circulated and being quoted by individuals and the press without regard for the veracity of the details outlined in the notice.”
​The IIM-A said, “All bills raised on us go through a process of certification by our project management consultants, the architect for the project, and our own project manager/engineer and are then paid. We have verified that all due payments have been made to workers. We do not have a pending bill as of the date of the serving of the legal notice.”
Staying in shanties in the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) Grounds, outside the IIM-A campus, the workers are involved in the construction of a new IIM-A building.
The statement stated, “The restrictions on construction activity were lifted on April 15 and after sanitization of the site and checking the health of the workers construction activity was renewed in phases from April 21.” It added, “By the beginning of May once the government announced its intention and special trains to allow migrants to return to their home’s workers expressed an interest to not continue with work. Work on the construction site stopped by May 7 in deference to the wishes of the workers.”
Rejecting that the workers lived in inhuman conditions, the statement continued, “We invite persons to visit the site where the workers are lodged. The location has all living facilities required for such colonies such as RO water, crèche, sanitation facilities, light/fan, and separate rows of accommodation for families and bachelors. A facility of a doctor for periodic health check-up is also made available.”
It added, “The health authorities have visited the facility where the workers are staying and have taken samples during the last two months. These tests came out negative. People can be asymptomatic for a period of time with no preliminary symptoms such as fever, cough, etc. Workers were regularly checked for symptoms and none were reported.”

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.