‘States will need permission to hire workers from UP’: CM Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that if any state wants manpower, the state government will have to guarantee social security and insurance of the workers.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said his government will lay down stringent conditions for ensuring social security of workers from UP who are hired by other states. Other states will also need to seek permission from his government before engaging workers from UP, he said.
“If any state wants manpower, the state government will have to guarantee social security and insurance of the workers. Without our permission they will not be able to take our people…because of the way they were treated in some states,” he said in an interaction with journalists through video conferencing.
The CM said all migrant workers who have returned to the state were being registered and their skills mapped by his administration. Any state or entity interested in hiring them will need to take care of their social, legal and monetary rights.
Adityanath also asked called for the creation of a migration commission that will look into various factors related to the rights of migrant workers and ensure they aren’t exploited.
Prof Amitabh Kundu, distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based think tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries, said requiring government permission for employing people could face a legal challenge as the Constitution guarantees the freedom of movement and residence and employment of workers.
“Article 19 (1)(D) guarantees freedom to move freely, and 19(1)(e) the freedom to settled in any part of the country…so the need for permission can be legally challenged,” Prof. Kundu said.
He also said the demand for labour in the southern states outstrips the employment avenues in UP. “UP does not have the capacity to absorb all the returnees, as the population growth is higher than the national average,” he said.
Out-of-work migrant workers who are returning to the state has emerged as a big challenge for the government. Though the UP CM was among the first to send buses to bring back stranded workers and students, which out pressure on other state to follow suit; the government was criticised for not providing organised transport to the workers during the lockdown, which forced thousands to walk.
Acknowledging that workers trying to get back home on foot was a big challenge, Adityanath said once the government had made arrangements for buses, it had to also face a second challenge of screening and quarantining the returnees.
He said state ministers were divided into groups to make policies. “ One committee was assigned to look for policies for livelihood options for workers in urban and rural areas...Second committee was to deal with business sector; to provide for the workers, and the chief secretary was tasked to coordinate with the Centre and other states,” he said.
