Yogi Adityanath: States will have to seek nod before employing UP workers

The Chief Minister said that the government will carry out skill mapping of the migrant workers and will stand by them wherever they go, be it other states or countries.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said states seeking to employ migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh in the future will need to take his government’s permission.

Adityanath, addressing a webinar, said, “Now, if any state needs manpower, the UP government will give the manpower social security. We will give them insurance and security. But, without our permission, our people cannot be taken by other states. Because the kind of treatment that was meted out [to UP residents]. Seeing that, we have taken the people’s social security in our hand.”

The Chief Minister said that the government will carry out skill mapping of the migrant workers and will stand by them wherever they go, be it other states or countries.

Adityanath also announced that a Migrant Commission will be established to provide jobs to labourers who had returned to the state amid the lockdown. This commission will work to guarantee social security to workers by providing them jobs according to their skills.

Speaking about infections among those who had returned to the state, the Chief Minister claimed migrant workers were recovering faster than the others.

“We know that migrant labourers who come back are likely to be infected [with Covid-19]. But, they work hard and sweat, and naturally they have the capacity to fight the virus. If a normal person gets infected, then they are taking 14 to 20 days to recover. Migrant labourers are testing negative on the sixth or seventh day. This is our strength… Along with screening, the migrants are also being mapped for skills,” he said.

Speaking about the challenges his administration had faced during this crisis, the Chief Minister said, “When I talk of Uttar Pradesh, then it is natural to say that it is the state with the highest population…We have faced several challenges during the lockdown. At the beginning, migrant workers and labourers started coming to the state. If one has to go to eastern parts, then UP is on the way… This was the first challenge for us. At some places, they were dropped at the UP border after they were brought in buses. We deployed 16,000 buses and within 24 hours, they were brought back to their home districts and arrangements were made to screen them.”

Without naming anyone, Adityanath took a dig at Opposition leaders for the migrant crisis. “During the lockdown, those who raise slogans for the poor… If these people had honestly worried about workers, then migration could have been stopped. This did not happen. No facilities were given. At several places, electricity connections were cut, so people had to migrate,” he said.

The Chief Minister claimed 18 crore people in the state had been provided foodgrains five times. “As one can see, there is a huge number of workers and labourers who are migrating. Around 25 lakh labourers work in UP. Not even one is migrating. They are staying here because they were given an honorarium… out of the 25 lakh workers, 22 lakh are back at their jobs and they also got paid for the lockdown period.”