After a couple of months of working deep in the forests of Cameroon, even in the pouring rain, 45-year-old Makund Mahato from Jharkhand saw another worker, from a different country, fall to his death when the land they were working on caved in.
“He could have been saved… This hit us hard, and we started demanding our salaries. The contractor promised us money every other day, but kept putting it off,” he said.
He was among 27 labourers from different parts of Jharkhand who returned home Wednesday after being stuck in Cameroon for months.
In search of a better livelihood, the 27 had left their homes in Bokaro, Giridih, and Hazaribagh districts in the third week of March, and reached Cameroon in West Africa. They were hired to install electricity transmission towers.
However, their working conditions were harsh, they weren’t getting their wages, and they struggled for proper food, they said.
“So we started our strike – ‘no pay, no work’. Slowly, our food got over, and we had to cut our diet by half for a few days. We ate only rice and starch. Later, we got some food, but only rice, tomatoes, and onions. We felt we were being harassed,” said Makund.
Another labourer, Mohan Mahato, said his father died on June 28. He said the contractor gave him “fake” assurances, but eventually refused to help him return. “I just wanted to go home for the last rites and I demanded money and a flight ticket, but in vain. I saw all of the last rites on my mobile phone, and it was extremely disturbing for me,” Mohan said.
This was another tipping point, with the labourers intensifying their demand for their wages. They also recorded a video and posted it on X, and this eventually came to the Jharkhand government’s notice.
The state government’s Migrant Control Room then gathered the mobile numbers of the labourers and got in touch. A Labour Department source said that a letter was sent to the Protector of Emigrants under the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“The labourers have reported that their payments are overdue and they wish to return to Jharkhand, India. Therefore, you are kindly requested to take the necessary action to ensure the workers from Jharkhand receive their legitimate dues and to make the necessary arrangements for their safe repatriation to Jharkhand, India,” the letter read.
According to the Migrant Control Room, the company the labourers were working for eventually paid the dues and facilitated their return.
They took a flight from Cameroon Sunday and reached Mumbai on Monday. By Wednesday morning, they reached Parasnath in Jharkhand.
Each of them was given a cheque of Rs 25,000 each from the state government. “Jab Jharkhand aaye to sukoon mila. Hamara jis tarah se swagat hua, hum log apne gham ko bhool gaye (When we reached Jharkhand, we felt relieved. The way we were welcomed, we forgot our sorrows),” Makund said.
From now on, he said, he will never go anywhere else without learning about the working conditions there.
After getting to Parasnath, they were spoken to over the phone by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. His wife and Gandey MLA Kalpana Soren was at the spot, along with Labour Minister Satyanand Bhokta, to welcome them.
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