“Fake videos of attacks on migrants affecting MSME industries”: TN industry body chief

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 4 (ANI): Days after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged concerns over alleged attacks on migrant labourers from his state working in Tamil Nadu, K Baskaran, secretary of the Kakkalur Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association (KIEMA) termed the CM’s claim as “fake and false”, adding that such rumours were having an adverse effect on the state’s MSME industries.

The KIEMA secretary issued the statement after many migrant workers at the estate started leaving for home in the wake of concerns raised by the Bihar CM. An estimated 3,000 migrant labourers, mostly from Bihar, are employed at the Kakkalur estate.

Taking note of media reports on alleged attacks on Bihar migrants in Tamil Nadu earlier, CM Nitish Kumar directed the state’s chief secretary and DGP to speak to officials in the Tamil Nadu government and ensure the safety of labourers from his state.

According to sources, the direction by the Bihar CM was also in response to a purported video of an alleged attack on migrant workers from Bihar in the southern state. The video was shared widely on social media.

Reacting to the Bihar CM’s direction, Tamil Nadu’s minister for Labour Welfare and Skill Development, CV Ganesan said there is no truth to news reports of attacks on migrant workers in the state. He added that there was no threat to any migrant worker from North India.

“They are working sincerely and contributing to the state’s overall progress,” Ganesan added.

The state’s Director General of Police, Sylendra Babu, issued a statement saying that the video doing rounds of social media was “false” and “mischievous”.

“Somebody in Bihar posted false and mischievous videos saying that migrant workers were attacked in Tamil Nadu. Two videos were posted. Both are false as these incidents happened at an earlier date in Tiruppur and Coimbatore. One was a clash between two groups of migrant workers from Bihar while another was from a clash between two local residents in Coimbatore,” the top cop said.

Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav shared the video of Tamil Nadu’s DGP statement on Thursday.

Speaking to ANI over phone, the KIEMA secretary said the canards being spread have put the migrant labourers in a state of panic and they have been receiving calls from their loved ones and families, asking them to return

He added that the false reports were affecting the state’s small and medium-scale industries.

“From Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav to Tamil Nadu DGP, all key stakeholders of the two states have clarified that the videos purported showing migrant labourers being attacked in Tamil Nadu were fake and false,” he said.
“All migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu are safe. We are consoling them. Our associations are with them,” he added.

Further, in the light of recent news reports, the Tamil Nadu police has opened helplines for migrant labourers.