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Labour Department cracks the whip

KOCHI: Continuing apathy by those in the building construction sector in registering the constructions employing migrant workers under the Inter-State Migrant Worker’s (ISMW) Act is posing difficulty to the Labour Department.

The matter came to the fore when two migrant workers hailing from Orissa died in a building collapse near the Ernakulam boat jetty earlier this month.

That the owner of the construction company, which employed them, had not registered the construction under the ISMW Act gave rise to dispute regarding the payment of compensation to the kin of the deceased.

Following the incident, the District Labour Office launched an intensive drive to inspect the constriction sites in various parts of the district to check whether labour laws were being adhered to.

So far, 25 construction sites spread over Muvattupuzha, Aluva, Kakkanad, Thevara and Marine Drive were inspected during the drive. Wage-related problems were not that rampant in the district, a senior labour officer said.

“The primary concern remains the non-registration under the ISMW Act. Those who employed migrant workers but had not registered under the Act were directed to do so immediately,” he said. As a first step, show cause notice would be served on the firms failing to comply with the directive, followed by prosecution, he said.

Three squads comprising assistant labour officers would be deployed in different parts of the district on Saturday as part of the State-wide drive, the officer said. District Labour Officer (Enforcement) P.J. Joy would supervise the squads.

Under the ISMW Act, the contractor recruiting migrant workers will have to take licence from the district labour office, while the owner of the construction is required to register the construction site.

“It also requires the contractor to deposit Rs.1,000 per worker with the district labour office. This fund will be utilised to meet the needs of migrant labourers if the contractor violates provisions of the Act,” the officer said.

“The deposit is refundable provided there is no breach of the Act detrimental to the interests of workers,” he said.

Accidents and violation of the rights of workers at work sites were covered under the Workmen’s Compensation Act. However, neither the Workmen’s Compensation Act nor the Contract Labour Act mentioned about the accommodation of migrant workers.

It was in this context that the registration under the ISMW Act became important as it implicitly provided for the accommodation of migrant workers.

“While the ISMW Act calls for legal recruitment of migrant workers, there is a provision in the Act terming that recruitment can include ‘other arrangements’,” the officer said. This vague term was being misinterpreted for illegally bringing in migrant workers without proper recruitment, he said.

Efforts were being made to plug this and other loopholes in the Act so as to streamline the registration process, the officer said.

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