Men do the job of bullocks in a paddy field in Muchia. Picture by Surajit Roy

Muchia (Malda), Feb. 17: Two men in Mahadebpur on the Indo-Bangla border slosh through the knee-deep mud as they pull the heavy yoke of a plough through a paddy field, while a third keeps the furrow steady.

The trio are among a group of poor villagers who are being used by local money-lenders to plough their fields in place of bullocks. All these villagers have debts ranging from Rs 3,000-5,000.

The debts have reduced more than 25 families in the Muchia gram panchayat area, spread over three-four villages, to the status of bonded labourers.

The villages of Mahadebpur, Taltala and Kailashpur are adjacent to the international border. The residents said they had sold off all their cows and bullocks for fear of Bangladeshi cattle smugglers, who regularly stole their livestock.

That made them poorer, and forced them to borrow more heavily. Now, they are having to do the work of bullocks on paddy fields owned by others. Neither the administration nor the panchayat has intervened to stop this back-breaking work.

On Sunday morning, several groups of “plough-pullers” were seen working in the fields, preparing them for the sowing of paddy.

“What else can we do? We are very poor and had taken loans at a monthly interest of 10 per cent. Everyday we get paid Rs 30 for this work and it goes into repaying my debt,” said Netai Mondal, one of the men yoked to a plough.

Three teams were working on a 60-bigha paddy field belonging to local moneylender Jyotish Sarkar. “They owe me money and that is why they are working in my field. It is not that all of them are pulling ploughs, some are engaged in other farming activities,” Sarkar said.

The BJP panchayat pradhan, Asit Sarkar, said he saw nothing wrong in men doing the work of bullocks. “If someone wishes to pull ploughs what can I do? I have heard that this is going on in some villages. Those who are doing it are very poor. We are not able to provide them with work under the 100-day employment guarantee scheme,” the pradhan said.

The pradhan alleged that the district administration was not interested in Muchia as the gram panchayat was held by the Congress-Trinamul Congress-BJP combine.

Subdivisional officer, headquarters, Arunima Dey, however, said: “It is a matter of great concern to us that we have not been able to initiate the 100-day work scheme in the Muchia area.”

Dey added that the pradhan of the gram panchayat had written to the district administration stating that there was no work available for labourers in the area.

“The Sahapur gram panchayat, which is adjacent to Muchia, has the same problem,” the subdivisional officer said.

District magistrate Chittaranjan Das looked startled when he heard about the situation. “I will make enquiries. We have been allotted crores of rupees to provide employment to the poor,” Das said.