Workers from Jharkhand protest at Nellore's SHAR, demand to go home

Nellore: Contract labourers from Jharkhand working at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, in Sriharikota staged a protest on 8 May demanding authorities give them permission to travel home.

Workers from Bihar and Jharkhand have been demanding to return to their native states since the lockdown started. Recently, SHAR authorities had allowed 190 people from Bihar to travel to their homes.

Contract labourers from Jharkhand, meanwhile, are still waiting for a nod from the state government. In fact, they have been staying on the premises since the lockdown was announced. The contractor allegedly did not give them food for a month and the space centre employees have been taking care of them. Now that labourers from Bihar were allowed to go back, they are asking why their request has not been considered.

After the protest on Friday, CISF personnel immediately informed the local police to prevent any untoward incidents at the centre. Gudur DSP B. Sriharsha, circle inspectors from Sullurpet, Naidupet, and sub-inspectors from Sriharikota and Tada are monitoring the situation.