Citing workers of Uttar Pradesh (UP) as the biggest resource, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said any state which wants migrant workers of Uttar Pradesh back, they will have to seek permission from UP authorities. He stressed there is a need to ensure the socio-legal-monetary rights of these workers are respected, Adityanath said.
During this COVID-19-induced lockdown, he asserted, various states did not take care of these workers. Adityanath said, “These workers are our biggest resource and will give them employment in Uttar Pradesh as the state government is going to set up a commission for their employment.” He said this at an interaction with the RSS- affiliated publications ‘Panchjanya’ and ‘Organiser’. “They are our people… and if some states want them back, they have to seek permission from the state government,” he added. He revealed this discussion was taken based on the feedback, UP government received from the migrant workers who returned home.
The minister revealed that the state government has registered all the migrant workers and their skills were mapped too. “Any state or entity interested in inviting migrant workers will need to assure and provide for their socio-legal-monetary rights,” he said.
This is the same minister who a few days back had decided to rip off labour laws to attract investments. In this new avatar, the chief minister is now advocating migrant workers’ rights and is looking at means to prevent them from getting exploited— all this will be taken care of by the commission which will be formed. “Insurance, social security, re-employment assistance, provision for unemployment allowance etc are some of the factors which will be looked into by the commission,” he said.
Over 23 lakh of migrant workers have returned to Uttar Pradesh. He claimed that of the migrants who returned about 75 per cent of those who came from Mumbai and 50 per cent from Delhi were tested positive for COVID-19.
Adityanath stated by next week, all migrant labourers who want to come back to Uttar Pradesh, will reach the state.
