Meghalaya | Get your migrant workers registered with Labour office: Official tells employers

SHILLONG: 

Principal Secretary of the Meghalaya’s Labour department, GHP Raju, said that many migrant workers in the state are yet to be verified and directed the concerned employers to get their workers registered with the labour office. 

 
Last month, the government had launched the online registration portal for migrant workers under the Meghalaya Identification Registration (Safety and Security) of Migrant Workers Act 2020 to protect and safeguard the migrant workers in Meghalaya through identification and mandatory registration of all such workers in the State.
 
Raju said that the employer must inform the nearest Labour Office about engaging the migrant workers, well in time for registration. 
 
Following the implementation of the Meghalaya, Identification, Registration (Safety and Security) of Migrant Workers Act, 2020, he informed that as of April 19, 2021, 1813 applications were received. Out of these, 1602 Registration Cards were issued by the Department. 

 A total of 780 applications were received offline and, 1033 were received online. The number of registration cards issued is 1602, while 211 are still under process.
 
Registration through the portal can be made from any part of the country, or through the common service centres, or a help desk at the registration office, with a payment of Rs 50. In this connection, the total fees collected from the registration is Rs 90,650.
 
Raju further said that every migrant worker should have to register online from wherever possible or offline at the respective Labour Inspector Offices in the districts. 
 
“It shall also be the duty of the employer to ensure the registration of the migrant workers,” he added.
 
Furthermore, the government official said that the failure on the part of the employer to register shall be liable for a fine which may extend up to Rs 5000, as per the provisions of the Meghalaya Identification, Registration (Safety & Security) of Migrant Workers Act, 2020.  

The Labour Department has directed all the Labour Inspectors to conduct field visits and inspect the places where migrant workers are employed.
 
“They will carry out the verification drive to detect cases of defaulters for initiating legal action under the law,” Raju said.
 
He further said that due to the second wave of COVID-19, verification of the migrant workers is important to ensure their health and their employers' as well.
 
“Every migrant worker shall adhere to the COVID protocol before getting employed,” he said.

(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

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