It was the birth of his baby boy a little over a month ago that prompted Rahul Tanti to leave his family in his village in Assam’s Cachar district and head to Goa to earn for them.
Tanti, 32, was one of three young men from Assam — all from marginalised communities — who were working as staff in the Arpora nightclub where a fire killed 25 on Saturday night. A resident of Rangirkhari village, he was from a tea tribe family, the eldest brother out of seven siblings. He began working early on in life, after completing class 4, to support his father, a tea garden labourer. His brother, Deva, said that he left for Goa on November 24, soon after the birth of his third child. He also has two daughters aged nine and six.
“The wages for working in the tea garden are only about Rs 200 per day, not enough to raise a family the way my brother wanted to. He wanted to give his children an education in private schools so they could study well and do better for themselves than families like ours usually do. He first left to work outside Assam in 2021 and then returned with his earnings and built a home, lived with his family and worked here in the gardens. But after his son was born, he decided that he had to earn more for them,” he said.
The night the fire broke out was Tanti’s first night shift at the nightclub, a job he had taken up in addition to a day job as a gardener.
“He said he wanted to take up a night job as well so that he could earn more and come back sooner to be with his children. But this happened on his very first night there,” said Deva, who worked in Goa for around eight years before returning to the village in 2023 to be with his family.
Manojit Mal (24), another victim in the blaze from the same district, is also from a tea tribe family from Silcoorie Grant village. His neighbour, Pradip Mal, said that as the eldest of four siblings, he left Assam one and a half years ago in search of better pay.
“The family is extremely poor, and there is no industry except tea where young men of this area can work. Even tea gardens have not been functioning properly for years now. The pay is meagre and irregular. His parents also worked in the tea garden, but since they are old now and he was the eldest sibling, he went outside to work,” he said.
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The third victim from Assam, Diganta Patir (22), was from a Mising tribal family in Eastern Assam’s Dhemaji district, far away from the other two.
According to his uncle Biswa Patir, Diganta lost his father around a decade ago and had been working outside Assam since he was 18. He went to Goa to work earlier this year.
“He studied till class 10 and then left Assam to support his mother and younger brother. He worked as a cook in eateries in Tamil Nadu and then went to Goa in April, where there was a prospect of more money. Even his younger brother works outside. It is difficult for young men to get prospects to earn decently here. There are no companies or industries to speak of, and we face terrible floods every year,” he said.
After several years of working elsewhere and saving up, Diganta had been planning to return to his village next month.
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“Between the two brothers, they had earned enough to build a house, and he was planning to come back, start something of his own and live with his mother, who was alone. But now, she is more alone than ever,” said Biswa.
