Question : Migrant Workers

(a)whether the Government monitors the enforcement of the Inter State Migrant Workmen Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service Act, 1979 and if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
(b)whether the Government also maintains a register for the migrant workers and if so, the number of such workers including unskilled and agricultural labourers in the country at present, State/UT-wise;
(c)whether the Government has conducted any study in regard to the living standard, health and safety of these migrant workers;
(d)if so, the details thereof and the steps taken or being taken by the Government for the welfare of migrant workers; and
(e)the various steps taken by the Government to check the trend of inter- State migration and welfare of migrant workers/labourers in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a): There is a well-established mechanism to enforce the provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services Act, 1979 in the Central Sphere by CIRM under
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the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central). The enforcement authorities under CIRM conduct regular inspections of the registered establishments and licensed contractors. The State Governments are mandated to enforce the Act, in the State Sphere.
(b): No such register maintained by the Ministry of Labour & Employment. However, every citizen has a right to migrate to any part of the country. The Constitution of India guarantees the right to every citizen to move to and reside in any State/UT in search of Occupation/Job. Migration of workers from one place to another place is a continuous process and the migrant workers keep on moving from one place to another place in search of work and such workforce also keeps on shifting from one sector to another sector depending upon the opportunities (such as more wages, duration and continuity of work) etc. and, therefore, it is not feasible to keep record/data of migrant labour workforce.
According to the Economic Survey 2016-17 the size of the workforce as per Census 2011 was 482 million (48.2 Crore) people and based on extrapolation, this figure would have exceeded 500 million (50 Crore) in 2016. If the share of migrants in the workforce is estimated to be even 20%, the size of the migrant workforce can be estimated to be over 100 million (10 Crore) in 2016 in absolute terms.

(c) to (e): The Central Government has not conducted any study in regard to living standard, health and safety of migrant workers.
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 Services) Act, 1979 which, inter alia, provides for payment of minimum wages, journey allowance, displacement allowance, residential accommodation, medical facilities and protective clothing etc.
Further, the Government is implementing contributory pension scheme, namely, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Man Dhan Yojana (PM-SYM) to provide old age pension to unorganised workers including inter-state migrant workers depending upon their eligibility.

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