In a first, chief minister Hemant Soren will flag off a special train, carrying around 1500 workers, for BRO projects on Friday – a development that comes close on the heels of the state government's consent to the organisation for recruiting workers from the state provided they register as an employer under the provisions of Interstate Migrant Workmen Act.

Additional Director General of Border Road Organization (BRO), Anil Kumar met Hemant at the Jharkhand Ministry on Thursday and assured to take necessary steps in connection with the government's conditions for sending workers to the frontiers for road construction works, an official from the chief minister's office said.

An MoU will be signed by the BRO officials and Dumka district administration before the workers leave in the special train from Dumka district, a press handout from the government said. Kumar said that BRO has sought the permission of Ministry of Defence to make an MoU between BRO and Jharkhand Labour Department too.

After approval of the Ministry of Defence, the process of MoU will be completed so that the Labour Department can provide proper support to the BRO, Kumar said. While the government did not clarify where the workers were headed, a close aide of the chief minister said that they would be sent to Jammu for road construction works.

Hemant, during the meeting, asked Kumar to maintain transparency in their appointment process and do away with all middlemen. “The workers should be treated well,” he said.

The Jharkhand CM said that workers of Jharkhand should be ensured timely remittance of wages to their bank account every month under the provisions of labour laws. Since these workers do road construction work in difficult terrains under challenging conditions, their safety should also be taken care of, he added.

The BRO has taken all appropriate steps for safety, wages and welfare of the the workers who are going for the road construction work in the border areas of the country, Kumar assured Hemant during the meeting.

The BRO, officials said, had a machinery called 'mates' in place. These mates worked as agents and brought cartels of workers from Jharkhand's poverty-stricken Santhal Pargana region to work in the BRO. A major chunk of the wages were allegedly taken away by the mates and the workers got little money to meet their ends, officials said.

Workers from tribal-dominated Santhal Pargana region of Jharkhand have been serving the BRO since 1970s. However, the process was never regulated. If highly placed sources in the chief minister's office are to be believed, then Defence Minister Rajnath Singh himself asked Hemant to intervene in the matter after the latter apprised him about the state of affairs.

The government's move assumes significance as tension simmers at the Line of Control between India and China. Besides, migrants from Jharkhand, mostly trafficked by slave trading agents, have been subjected to inhuman treatment in other parts of the countries since decades. Jharkhand is also one of the worst-affected states when it comes to human trafficking.