MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)
(a): Yes, Madam. Office of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) monitors the enforcement of Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 through regular inspections in central sphere. The details of enforcement of Inter- State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 in Central Sphere Establishments are as under.
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No. Particulars 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
1. No. of Inspections conducted 155 286 78 41
2 No. of Irregularities 1967 1807 1038 466
3 No. of Prosecutions Launched 51 109 49 04
4 No. of Convictions 77 50 35 04
(b): Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 provides for registration of only establishments engaging the inter-state migrant workers. The register for migrant workers is not maintained at the central level.
(c) & (d): Government has not conducted any study in regard to living standard, health and safety of migrant workers. However Government has conducted study on (i) Tribal Migrant from Jharkhand Region of Bihar relating to causes and consequences (ii) Inter-State Migrant Workers relating to actual Conditions of Work (iii) Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act relating to Evaluation of Implementation and Impact of the Act on Construction Workers in Delhi and a Framework for Monitoring the Implementation of the Act and (iv) Changing Migrant Behavior of Bihari Labourer Participation in Agriculture relating to Economic Analysis of Punjab & Bihar.
In order to safeguard the interest of the migrant workers, the Central Government has enacted the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 which, inter alia, provides for payment of minimum wages, journey allowance, displacement allowance, residential accommodation, medical facilities and protective clothing etc. The provisions of various labour laws like The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923, The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 are also applicable on migrant workers.
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The Government has also enacted the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 to provide for social security and welfare of unorganized workers including migrant workers.
(e): In order to check the trend of inter-state migration the Government has enacted Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) Act, 2005 which aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. According to the MGNREGA Act, employment shall be provided within a radius of five kilometers of the village where the applicant resides at the time of applying. In cases the employment is provided outside such radius, it must be provided within the Block and the labourers shall be paid 10% extra wages. As such, providing local employment, on demand by the household, mitigates distress migration.
Government has not decided to issue identity card to migrant workers yet.
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