KOCHI: Now, a Facilitation Centre to assist the migrant workers, the second such facility after the maiden one set up in Thiruvananthapuram, will start functioning at Perumbavoor here from Monday.
The centre situated on the first floor of the Municipal Shopping Complex near the Municipal Bus Stand will be inaugurated by Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan. MPs, MLAs, Perumbavoor Municipality functionaries will be present. The centre will enable the workers to register their names and avail the benefits provided by the government including the Awaz Health Insurance Card provided by the Labour Department.
It will also assist the migrant workers in opening bank accounts and availing BSNL services. They can lodge a complaint at the centre if they encounter atrocities and labour issues.
Checks on labour camps
A team led by District Legal Services Authority Sub-Judge A M Basheer and officers from the health, police and labour departments carried out joint checks at various labour camps in the district. The team found the facilities at the camps are woefully inadequate. Also, unhygienic conditions prevailed, with no potable water and waste management facility. One of the camps which did not have even the minimum facilities was closed down by the team.
The Health Department as part of the drive to prevent the outbreak of communicable diseases inspected the facilities at 1,537 places where the migrants have been provided accommodation. Three of these were ordered to close down. Blood samples were collected from 162 persons.
Perumbavoor, the hub of plywood industry, is home to several thousand migrant workers. The state government had announced facilitation centres will be opened in every district starting with Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts. The Awaz card was launched last year to collate data on the migrant workers in the state and provide insurance coverage considering the nature of their work. As many as 2,29,734 migrant workers belonging to 58 different linguistic communities were registered as part of insurance programme till Saturday. The break-up is 2,16,043 men and 13,633 women.