Mamata directs officials to prepare scheme for return of 22 lakh migrants

Kolkata: Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday directed the formulation of a scheme to help Bengali-speaking migrant workers return to Bengal, alleging they are facing torture in BJP-ruled states for speaking in Bengali.

“We have 22 lakh migrant workers who work in other states. I would ask Samirul Islam (Chairman of West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board), Law minister Moloy Ghatak to sit with the Chief Secretary in a day or two and come up with a scheme for providing jobs in the state itself for those who want to come back,” Banerjee said at an administrative meeting in Bolpur, Birbhum.

The scheme should include arrangements for ration cards, Swasthya Sathi cards and job card enrollment to ensure they receive benefits and employment, she added.

Banerjee alleged that these workers are lured to other states by touts who then abandon them when they face harassment. “We have seen atrocities even on children. Women have also not been spared. In Gurgaon, Bengali-speaking migrant workers have been sent to detention camps. In Assam, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, there have been incidents of attacks on Bengali-speaking people. The Rajbanshi, Dalit, Matua communities are also being targeted,” she claimed.

While launching the statewide ‘Bhasha Andolan’ (Language Movement) from Bolpur on Monday, Banerjee made a strong assertion that her government will not allow the Centre to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Bengal as long as she is alive.

“I will not allow NRC to be implemented in Bengal as long as I am alive.

I am ready to lay down my life if required, but I will not let anybody snatch my language. I won’t allow detention camps here,” Banerjee said.

Banerjee, on Monday, also directed booth-level officers (BLOs), who assist the Election Commission in preparing and updating electoral rolls, to ensure that people are not harassed in the name of electoral roll revision and that genuine voters are not removed from the list.

Addressing an administrative meeting at Bolpur in Birbhum, Banerjee reminded BLOs that they function under the state government, except during the election period. “Sometimes it is observed that District Magistrates are assigning responsibilities to others who are negligent in their duties. About 1,000 BLOs were taken from Bengal to Delhi for training, but I had no knowledge of it. At least the District Magistrates should have informed me or the Chief Secretary,” she said.

On Sunday evening, Banerjee had posted a video on social media platform X showing the alleged assault of a woman and her child by Delhi Police.

She said lodging camps should be set up for returning workers if needed and their skills utilised across sectors. “Why do they go to other states? They are hired because of their skills. Skilled artisans such as those doing zari work are in demand. We have 1.5 crore migrants in our state, but we don’t mistreat them. This is their democratic, fundamental right. But if our people are under attack, we will have to give them protection.”

Banerjee said many migrant workers had returned during Covid and were provided employment by the state. In 2024-25, the state gave work to 77 lakh job card holders, spending Rs 8,334 crore. This fiscal, 25 crore man-days have already been created with Rs 728.61 crore spent. “We had committed 50 days of work but gave 58. I don’t mind raising it to 65-70 days,” she said.

The Trinamool Congress has been protesting against alleged “linguistic terror” by the BJP targeting Bengali-speaking migrant workers, some reportedly undocumented.

Addressing an administrative meeting in Bolpur, Birbhum, Mamata gave a one-year ultimatum to the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to take up de-siltation of its reservoir, while reiterating her proposal to construct a dam in front of DVC’s to prevent flooding in South Bengal districts.

“DVC has not carried out dredging in the last 20 years, which has significantly reduced its water-holding capacity. It was originally meant to hold 4 lakh cubic metres of water, but now it holds much less. During the monsoon, in order to prevent submergence in Jharkhand, they are releasing water too quickly into Bengal, causing flood-like situations here. We are spending a huge amount of money every year on relief and rehabilitation,” Banerjee said.

Meanwhile, fresh controversy has erupted over alleged police brutality against a migrant worker’s family from Chanchal, Malda, living in Delhi. The incident gained widespread attention after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee shared disturbing images on her official X handle, showing a woman and her child reportedly beaten by Delhi Police personnel. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her outrage, stating on X: “Terrible terrorism!! Look how the Delhi Police brutally beat up a child and mother from a migrant family in Chanchal, Malda!! Look, not even a child is spared from BJP’s linguistic terrorism against Bengalis!! Where are they taking the country?!”

The victim, Muqtar Khan, originally from Pirozabad in Chanchal, Malda, has been working as a labourer in Delhi for several years along with his wife, child and elderly parents. On Saturday, Delhi Police allegedly detained Muqtar’s wife and their infant child on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. They were reportedly subjected to abuse at the police station and later released.

Later in the day, Mamata Banerjee posted on X: “The Bengali language is the soul of our identity, the legacy of our forebears, and the voice of a civilization that has always stood tall against injustice. Today, from the sacred soil of Bolpur, enriched by the ideals of Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore, I walked with thousands in a historic Bhasha Andolan to uphold the dignity of our mother tongue.

Let me state this unequivocally: Bengal will never bow before any force that seeks to erase our language, marginalise our people, or divide our country on the basis of culture and identity. We respect every language, every culture. That is the ethos of India. But attempts to humiliate Bengali-speaking citizens, to brand them as illegal immigrants, to push them across borders, and to weaponise language as a tool of persecution are clear signs of a dangerous, divisive agenda.

We shall resist this with every ounce of strength, through democratic means, with moral clarity and collective resolve. Those who silence voices instead of embracing diversity must remember that India’s strength lies in its unity. This is not just Bengal’s fight, it is a battle to protect the soul of our Republic.

Jai Hind. Joy Bangla.”