Gurugram hit by worker shortage amid police raids

Parts of Gurugram are facing an acute shortage of domestic workers and garbage collectors after scores of migrant labourers, mostly from West Bengal and Assam, fled the city, fearing police action amid a crackdown on undocumented Bangladeshi nationals.

The Gurugram police recently intensified efforts to identify and detain illegal immigrants. However, the drive has sparked panic among the city’s migrant workforce, many of whom now fear being wrongly targeted. The sudden exodus has disrupted daily life for many residents in upscale localities.

“Nearly 80% of domestic staff and waste collectors have left in the past few days. Garbage collection has been hit. The municipal vehicle comes once every three to four days now,” said Abhey Poonia, senior vice-president of the Gurgaon Citizens’ Council, an umbrella body of over 80 RWAs.

Residents of Sushant Lok-II and Sector 43 shared similar accounts. A couple living in Regency Park-I said both their help and car cleaner, verified by police, fled to Assam after night raids in their building. “The ongoing drive scared them. Their landlord also told tenants from Bengal and Assam to vacate,” they said.

Migrants from these States typically stay in villages like Chakkarpur, Nathupur, Sikanderpur Ghosi and jhuggi clusters around DLF Phase-I, III and Sector 56.

Firdos, a car washer who stays with his wife and two daughters in Carterpuri village, said he, too, is planning to return to West Bengal. “Many people I know have been detained by the police. One of them was also beaten up,” he said.

A contractor managing waste collection in Sector 15 Part-II and its neighbouring areas reported labour fleeing en masse. “Most of my workers have vanished. It could take over a week for things to settle,” he said.

However, Municipal Corporation spokesperson Satyabir Rohilla denied any disruption to garbage collection.

Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said the crackdown had been slowed after the RWAs flagged the disruption. “We are acting only on specific inputs. So far, 10 people have been identified as illegal residents based on documents from the respective District Magistrates. They were found to own land in Bangladesh and were born there,” he said.  Mr. Kumar dismissed allegations of harassment or torture, saying proper verification is being done.