BHUBANESWAR: As more and more migrant workers are heading back homes in view of the resurgence of Covid-19 and subsequent imposition of restrictions by state governments, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has reactivated the control room in Odisha to address their grievances and mitigate problems.
The facility in the regional office of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) in Bhubaneswar is one of the 20 control rooms set up in April 2020 to mitigate the problems of migrant workers through coordination with various state governments. The Centre, through this control room, will coordinate with the State government to solve problems of migrants.
The control room is being managed by Labour Enforcement Officer Anil Kumar Jena, Assistant Labour Commissioners Harmandeep Singh and Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Regional Labour Commissioner Santosh Sethy under the leadership of Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner Shakuntala Patnaik.
Aggrieved workers can access the control room through e-mail, mobile phone number and WhatsApp number of the designated officers. “After studying the nature of the grievance, we will act accordingly,” said sources in regional office of CLC.
“If the issue is relating to non-payment of dues and retrenchment by contractors of any Central agency due to pandemic situation, the matter will be taken up with the principal employer concerned and we will ensure that the payments of workers are released,” the sources added.
In case of matter that comes under the purview of the State government, the competent authority in the CLC regional office will refer the issue to the department concerned for necessary action. Issues relating to accommodation and food during lockdown and shutdown are also taken care of in coordination with the authorities concerned, the officer said.
The Labour Ministry has advised all officials concerned to adopt a humane approach to assist the aggrieved workmen to the maximum possible extent and ensure delivery of timely relief to the needy ones.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed the collectors to keep a close watch on the migrant workers and take Covid appropriate action.
Helpline
Shakuntala Patnaik: dyclcbbsr.od@nic.in & 9818925073
Harmandeep Singh: alcbbsr.od@nic.in & 9971279209
Santosh Sethy: rlckl.od@nic.in & 8777544846
Rajesh Gupta: alccentral.od@nic.in & 7489696585
Anil Jena: anilmirjapur123@gmail.com & 8910237856