The Chief Justice of Hyderabad High Court
Southern Bank of Moosi Nadi
Adjacent to Govt City college, Hyderabad
Dear Chief Justice of Hyderabad High Court,
May Peace Be Upon You
Subject: Lacs of unregistered migrants leaving and returning to Telangana, not registered under Inter-State Migrant Workers’ Act, 1979
1. Implementation of the Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1996;
2. Implementation of THE INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN (REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1979
3. Building and Other Construction Workers Cess collected by Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board:
a) Cess collected not displayed on website;
b) CEO Welfare Board admits that adhar card and bank account not collected during registration for those done;
c) Unregistered workers would not be paid.
Reference: Our petition of 16 April 2020
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We are appalled and highly depressed that migrant workers cross our state of Telangana are travelling on foot and in a most unorganized manner without any dignity of their labour and lives. We only ask ourselves is it humanely possible to traverse by foot. We carry in our heart the guilt of little 12 yr old Jamlo who died out of exhaustion even before she reached her parents in Chattisgarh. It took days for her group to cross Telangana. Why wasn’t she and her group stopped and honoured with redressal of their needs?
We simply ask ourselves how long this mother could have travelled in this manner. Is it humanly possible to carry a child and baggage as she travels from Surat to Allahabad? We shudder to think of her travails as she set to traverse those mind-boggling distances on foot or any charity lift.
Submission One:
Had the ISMW Act been implemented we would have had little Jamlo in the school of her native state and would not have worked in chillie fields of Khammam Telangana.
A) Inter State Migration Workmen Act provides the safety net for the workers who migrate from one state to another thru or outside the licensed contractor;
B) Both the native state and the destination state are required to enter names of the workers who are selected for work at destination state.
C) Form XXVII needs to be filled in wherein contractor and employer details are recorded;
D) Bank account details, and contact details are recorded with both the states;
E) Measurements of houses for the migrant workers are specified in the Act so that health and dignity of migrant workers are not compromised;
F) Displacement Allowance is also provided for in the Act.
We submit that had this Act been implemented, giving monetary benefit, food, ration, and arranging travel, all these entitlements would have been a very smooth and dignified affair. We could have saved the precious lives of our migrant workers.
Migrant Workers are not even aware of this Act. The provisions to streamlining of the interstate movement of migrants so as to avoid exploitation are not disseminated to the beneficiaries.
Employers and Contractors did not cater to the migrant workers who they recruited from the native state with assurances. Nor were their houses as per the measurements which would never permit them to stay in for the whole day and night, and staying in tin sheds was the chief demand of lockdown.
The economy is here to serve people’s lives not vice-versa.
Submission Two:
A) Building and Other Construction Workers’ Act 1996 has been seriously compromised in two ways: One, many Construction companies have not paid the 1-2% cess as mandated by the BOCW Act. Two, Even the amount of 1655 crores that is present as the Building and Other Construction Workers Cess collected by Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board is not given to the migrant and construction workers in spite of their entitlement to it.
B) most of the workers arent aware that there is a welfare board and welfare fund for crisis times.
C) In spite of a serious lapse from the construction owners and the state, still they did not try to make up the lapse by using the coffer of 1655 crores. Rather, it was the civil society that rose to the occasion and took the role of welfare state.
D) Taking this opportunity, the construction companies could have been called upon to pay up their cess dues towards worker welfare board. The crisis was not and is not being used as an opportunity for either rectification of the lapses nor to further strengthen and fortify the lives that shoulder the ‘wealth creators’.
We once again arrive at the threshold of the halls of justice to atleast partially undo the guilt that we collectively suffer for not having a system that would not see little Jamlo and her likes die on streets of India.
Prayer:
1. We urge you to order implementation of THE INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN (REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1979. The police department had taken a lot of risks and themselves registered the workers.
Police Stations had registered all migrants within their jurisdiction. Hence the information from all the Telangana PS should be consolidated state wise, gender wise.
Workers and migrants who are moving in and out of the state should be mandatorily registered as per the Act. Migrants need to be counselled that they should not venture in this heat by any other means of travel except trains or buses that are provided by state government;
2. We urge you for Implementation of Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1996; An audit of the construction permits given in Telangana and the depositing of cess of 1-2% of the construction outlay is the need of the hour, as this would mobilise more funds and thus state exchequer would not be burdened. Why the state is shying away from a mandatory collection from construction companies. Migrants to be paid entitlement of rs.10000 to 15000 per month, which would make them feel safe and wanted.
3. All funds collected by Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board thru cess from construction companies should be put up on the website. The audited balance sheet of the Board should be available in the public domain.
4. We expect earliest redressal of the grievance we place before you.
Best,
Dr Lubna Sarwath,
Telangana State Gen Secy, Socialist Party (India), Hyderabad
Ph: 963002403
Citizen of India
Voter ID (old): WRH0435222
Voter ID (current): WRH2244622
