Jharkhand government’s warning of violation of Migrant Act

Jharkhand government has reminded Border Roads Organisation (BRO) about repeated violations of provisions of the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, just before the season of recruitment of workers for various road projects commences.

Thousands of labourers from different districts of Jharkhand are taken for road projects in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and other border areas of the country by contractors of BRO.

The letter, written on Tuesday by labour, employment, training and skill development department secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma and addressed to the director general of BRO, draws attention to the annual engagement of casual paid labourers (CPLs) from Jharkhand by BRO.

“This engagement has been going on for many years since the raising of BRO. Thousands of workers travel mostly from Dumka and other districts of Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand to Ladakh and other border regions in the months of April to September every year. During the national lockdown imposed in March 2020, hundreds of migrant labourers were stranded in high-altitude terrains with uncongenial climatic conditions,” the letter states.

The letter also claimed: “The Jharkhand government rescued hundreds of workers by special airlift missions during May-June 2020. The Government of Jharkhand has also initiated ‘Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative (SRMI)’ in December 2021. These actions clearly demonstrate the commitment of the state government towards the welfare of inter-state migrant workers of the state working with BRO, and to enforce established statute and legal provisions of the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979.” According to the letter, the labour commissioner of Jharkhand in multiple communications to BRO has repeatedly raised the issue of violations of the provisions of the act.

The communications were sent after receiving multiple complaints of CPLs. “The issue was also raised to the Chief Engineers of Vijayak and Himank, and Secretary – Labour, Ladakh, by the delegation of Government of Jharkhand when it visited the Union Territory of Ladakh in October-November 2021.

It was mutually agreed upon that BRO will register itself as Principal Employer/ Establishment under the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, which has not been achieved yet,” the letter says and reiterates that BRO has to oblige with the provision of the said act.

The letter informs that road construction companies empanelled by BRO have started recruiting migrant workers as CPLs again in an “opaque manner”.

“The Jharkhand government has humbly requested the BRO multiple times to follow provisions of the said Act, but the BRO has not shown any sincerity towards the requests,” the letter states.