Labourers rally for the Nano plant. File picture

Burdwan, Oct. 15: Rafiqul Mondal and his brother had got jobs in the Singur car plant, barely an hour’s bus ride from their Burdwan home. But they are in Leh now, shivering and clearing snow.

Rafiqul and Rabiul were among 12 youths from Boromuria village who had joined the Tata plant as workers. From poor families — mostly labourers and share-croppers — they were in dire need for jobs when the Tatas left Singur.

While they were unemployed for a few days, a middleman offered the youths a job that would pay them Rs 5,000 a month in Leh, thousands of kilometres from Bengal.

The job was in a road laying project, they were told. The 12 left home for Jammu and Kashmir on October 3.

Yesterday, the brothers contacted father Doabux Mondal, a sharecropper in Burdwan’s Galsi, about 145km from Calcutta, and told him about their sorry state.

“My sons told me all of them are in dire straits. They are being forced to clear snow on the road. They are not being paid properly, not getting adequate food and are confined to a wooden room when not working. They told me that they will die in the bitter cold if not rescued immediately,” said Doabux.

The father lodged a complaint with the local police requesting that the youths be brought back immediately.

“We contacted Leh police. We will take further steps after getting a feedback from them,” said Tirthendu Ganguly, the officer in charge of Galsi police station.

Amir Ali Mondal, another worker, also spoke to wife Rafeza Begum, who has lodged a separate complaint to bring back her husband.

No Singur plan: govt

Industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen today said the government had not received any proposal for a project in Singur.

“The government hasn’t got any official proposal from any group or company wanting to set up industry in Singur from where the Tatas pulled out before Puja. Therefore, the question of an alternative industry in Singur at present does not arise . However, I do not rule out such a possibility.”