Gogoi urges bihari workers not to leave Asom

Guwahati, Jan 10: Asom Chief Minister today urged the panic-stricken Bihari workers not to leave the state following the ULFA's attack on these workers.

''Already the prices of bricks has shown a upward trend in the state because of the attack on the brick kiln workers,'' Asom Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.

''The state will need these migrated workers not only for the brick industry but also railway yards and godowns of essential commodities. If they leave the state, there would be shortage of labourers in the state and prices of these items are bound to soar,'' Mr Gogoi said.

The All Assam Students Union (AASU), while condemning the attacks on Bihari populace, stated that the illegal migrants from Bangladesh would gain if Bihari workers left the state.

AASU advisor Dr Samujjal Bhattacharrya said, ''We do not want to comment on the ULFA design. But we are sure that in case Bihari workers leave the state due to panic, illegal migrants from Bangladesh are waiting to fill up the void created by the exodus of Bihari workers.'' During winter, brick is manufactured in flood-prone Asom and stocked to cater the construction activities throughout the year all over the state.

Thousands of Bihari labourers come to the state every winter to work in numerous brick kilns that mushroom in rural areas of the state during this period of the year.

These migrated labourers from Bihar are crucial for the seasonal brick manufacturing industry in the state, he said.

UNI