LUCKNOW: In order to protect the rights of lakhs of migrant labourers returning to UP from different corners of the country during the lockdown, UP chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the formation of a ‘Migration Commission’ in the state in near future. The CM made the announcement at a webinar with media persons here on Sunday.
However, the decision to set up the ‘Migration Commission’ was taken by the CM during the routine meeting with his Team 11 on Sunday morning.
The Commission, said the Chief Minister, would ensure job security by ensuring minimum job guarantee to the migrants who have returned along with families losing their jobs in different states.
Elaborating further on the commission, the CM claimed that as the migrants were coming back to the native places in large numbers, they would be proving an asset to the state in the days to come. “They are going to be our strength as we are not only screening them medically to evade the threat of Coronavirus but also doing their skill mapping,” said the CM pointing out that they would be roped in to boost the state economy in a big way while being provided sops including insurance and other facilities.
He maintained that after the influx of migrants, Uttar Pradesh was now enriched with plenty of skilled labour. Sharing further details about the proposed Commission, CM Yogi said that in future, if any state, facing the paucity of workforce, would want to hire the labourers from Uttar Pradesh, they would have to come through the Commission. They would have to seeking the permission from the state government. “This is being done to save the migrant workers from exploitation in other states. Any state hiring them would have to do an insurance in their favour to ensure social security to them,” maintained the Chief Minister.
CM Yogi asserted that this would be the most crucial clause added to the handbook of the Commission’s functioning to protect the right of the labourers of the state in other parts of the country. “We have seen how the migrants of Uttar Pradesh were surviving in inhuman conditions and discrimination, especially, during the lockdown in other states. They were craving for basic human necessities like food, water and a shelter over their head,” averred the CM.
While the structure of the commission is yet to be formalised, sources said, it was likely to have on its board top officials from a different departments including Labour, Industry, Rural Development and Revenue.
So far UP has received around 23 lakh migrant labourers from various states since March 1 till May 24, 2020. Of these, 17 lakh migrants have come by 1113 Shramik Special trains so far and around 2.50 lakh by buses and other means. Moreover, around 6 lakh migrants had thronged the state in March end with the announcement of the first spell of lockdown driven by COIVD-19.