Chaos at college as 3k guest workers are brought back

Chaos at college as 3k guest workers are brought back

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 15.05.2020

There was some tension outside Guru Nanak College in Velachery on Thursday morning after 3,000 guest workers were brought back from MGR Chennai Central Railway station.

The workers from Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar were staying at Assam Bhawan at Pallikaranai and reached the station on Wednesday night believing they would be sent home by trains. But officials told them they needed to register in advance and they dropped them at the college.

However, the college authorities had no prior information about their arrival and they were stranded outside the institution for nearly two hours from 11am. After some officials intervened, 1,000 workers were accommodated at the college and the rest sent back to Assam Bhawan.

Several workers complained that they were not being provided good food. “On Wednesday night, they went to railway station believing that they can board the train directly. But it is mandatory to register which they failed to do,” said a police officer. One worker blamed officials for lack of coordination.

Separately, workers employed at the third unit of the North Chennai Thermal Power Station near Minjur, protested in front of the Minjur police station demanding that they be sent back to their home states. The workers from Odisha and Jharkhand, put up in temporary shelters by their employers, said they were unable to have proper food. They demanded that their pending salaries be given and provided proper transport. They dispersed after police and revenue officials promised that their demands would be met.

CHAOS REIGNS: A crowd outside Guru Nanak College