A village in Punjab’s Kharar sub-district has issued a diktat restricting the movement of migrant workers after 9 pm in the area. In Jandpur village, which is home to 2,000 people, including 500 migrants, multiple signboards have been placed, displaying 11 strict instructions for migrants, including one barring them from having not to have gutka-paan in public.
The signage was put across the village following a meeting of Municipal Councillors, according to news agency ANI. The diktat, however, reportedly prompted some migrants to leave the village.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the list of instructions also includes mandatory police verification of migrants. It also bars them from smoking cigarettes, and chewing tobacco (gutka) and betel leaf(paan) in public to curb spitting on village roads. The list also has a provision of providing dustbins by house owners while renting property to migrants.
The village's civic body has also barred more than two people from staying in a room. It said migrants can't roam around in half attire and said the house owner will be accountable in case any migrant indulges in illegal activities or harms villagers.
Administration Intervention
As per the HT report, the Kharar police and senior administration officers intervened in the matter and questioned villagers’ civic authority about the diktats and asked them to change the rules
“We had a meeting with the police and the administration, and thus we are getting the boards changed and will apply the same rules for everyone,” the area councillor was reported saying by HT.
Kharar DSP Karan Sandhu said police were ensuring peace and keeping a close watch on the developments in the village.
Earlier, in a similar startling development, a village in Mohali’s Kurali last month had passed a resolution barring migrants from residing in their village.