Lok Sabha Question No. 4621 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-23
Subject: Migrant Workers
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Bhola Singh, Sukanta Majumdar, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4621 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2020

## MIGRANT WORKERS

## 4621. SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (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/UTwise;
- (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?

## ANSWER

## 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

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 Migrant Workmen  (Regulation  of  Employment  and  Conditions  of  Services) Act, 1979 which, inter alia, provides for payment of minimum wages, residential the Central Government has enacted the Inter-State journey allowance, displacement allowance, 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 their including inter-state migrant workers depending upon eligibility.

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