The Hooghly district administration has been running a pilot project in Balagarh block to provide education and nutritional support to the children of migrant workers, mostly from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, employed at brick kilns.
This is in stark contrast to the growing hostility faced by migrant labourers from Bengal in other parts of the country. Bengali-speaking migrant labourers are being "harassed" in several BJP-ruled states on charges of being Bangladeshis, and some of them have even been pushed back beyond the border.
Referring to the Hooghly district administration's assistance to the migrants' wards since January 2023, a labourer from Jharkhand said: "The initiative comes at a time when identity politics threatens to dehumanise migrants. But an alternative is being offered at Balagarh, where dignity, bonhomie, education and basic welfare aren’t withheld, but extended to migrant workers' children, driven by empathy and a commitment to constitutional values."
Beyond admitting the children to government-run institutions and ensuring uninterrupted learning during their stay in Bengal, the administration is providing them with basic nutrition.
Around 800 children of migrant labourers are enrolled at various government institutions, including ICDS centres. While the children get schooling and free midday meals, the migrant workers receive free rice from ration shops. The rice is provided based on their Aadhaar identification.
“This is the marked difference between Bengal and BJP-ruled states when it comes to treating migrant labourers and their children,” said Balagarh panchayat samiti chief Sikha Mondal.
“In BJP-ruled states, even a child isn’t spared from police brutality; here in Balagarh, we treat the children of migrant labourers like our own. We are providing them with education and are taking care of their nutritional needs. This is the model BJP states should learn from us, instead of branding all Bengali-speaking labourers as Bangladeshis,” Mondal added.
Every year, several thousand migrant labourers arrive in Hooghly from neighbouring states to work in brick kilns, jute mills, or as farm hands, especially during the potato cultivation season.
Of these, the brick kiln workers tend to stay the longest, often up to 10 months, and many bring their families along. Over 200 brick kilns are functional in Balagarh, Mogra, Singur, Arambagh and other parts of the district, employing nearly 6,000 labourers, including married couples.
However, most of these workers are illiterate and unaware of the importance of formal education for their children, often because of their temporary stay and the economic hardships they face.
“We have tried to break that notion and motivate them,” said Mondal, who has been closely involved in the project.
Given the linguistic barrier — most of the children speak Hindi — the administration has tapped voluntary organisations to ensure that they receive education in a familiar language.
The first phase of the initiative began in January 2023 when 58 children were admitted to Ashutosh Smriti Mandir Primary School in Jirat. Since then, the programme has expanded significantly, now benefiting around 800 children who attend classes regularly — a transformation that is reshaping their lives and aspirations.
The idea originally emerged under the National Service Scheme (NSS) programme of Jirat Colony High School and Balagarh Bijoykrishna Mahavidyalaya, with a mission to make these children literate. It was later taken over and scaled up by the district administration.
“We set up Biplabi Bhupati Majumdar Aboitanik Pathshala, a free open-air school near a brick kiln in Jirat,” said Partha Chattopadhyay, NSS coordinator and Bengali teacher at Balagarh Bijoykrishna Mahavidyalaya.
“Our goal was to provide basic education along with food for good health. When we approached the administration for support, they responded very positively”, Professor Chattopadhyay said.
Balagarh block development officer Suparna Sarkar said: "The initiative was started by students under Professor Partha Chattopadhyay’s guidance. We later formalised it to provide the necessary support. Over time, we have been able to convince the labourer parents about the importance of education for their children.”
A senior Hooghly district official explained that while enrolling these children was mandatory under the Right to Education Act, 2009, which guarantees “free and compulsory education of equitable quality” to all children aged between six and 14 years, the district’s proactive measures went well beyond compliance.
Describing the programme as a replicable model for inclusive education, Gourab Chakraborty, sub-inspector of schools in Balagarh, said: “This initiative demonstrates a remarkable difference in approach to how we treat the children of migrant workers comprehensively and with care.”
The success of the initiative is evident in the response from the migrant families.
Rampal Oraon, a migrant worker from Jharkhand, said: "The schooling of my child here changed our life. We hadn't earlier realised the need for education in such a way. With our children, we are learning a lot about lifestyle, good health habits, and many more issues".
Chakraborty, who has been nominated for the NIEPA Awards for Innovations and Good Practices in Educational Administration for 2024-25 for this initiative, said: “We saw that many families chose not to return to their native villages during the cease-work period just to ensure continuity in their children’s education and the nutritional food they receive regularly.”