No bar on labour movement: UP ministers, officials

Ministers and government officials in UP clarified that Adityanath’s statement calling for “permission by states to employ manpower from UP” was just an “expression of his concern” and that the state did not intend to restrict movement of workers.

Lucknow | Bengaluru: Maharashtra will have to give an “undertaking” before employing workers from Uttar Pradesh, a UP minister said on Tuesday even as the opposition slammed chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his statement calling for states to seek permission from UP for employing its workers while BJP-ruled Karnataka rallied in his support.

Ministers and government officials in UP clarified that Adityanath’s statement calling for “permission by states to employ manpower from UP” was just an “expression of his concern” and that the state did not intend to restrict movement of workers.

“It is a free country and we are conscious of the federal structure and nobody’s movement will be restricted,” UP’s minister for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and spokesperson, Sidharth Nath Singh, told ET. However, he said, “looking at how Maharashtra has treated migrants from UP and Bihar, we will insist upon an undertaking from the state that it will take care of Purvanchalis and other migrants from UP”.

Singh said it was unfortunate that first the state failed in its responsibility of taking care of people working there and that now it was indulging in passing “distasteful” remarks. He said it was yet to be decided what form the undertaking would take.

UP’s chief secretary, RK Tiwari, told ET that details related to the migrant commission will be clear in a couple of days but the idea is that all laws framed for the welfare of migrants, including the ones that are already in place, should be followed by all states. Another senior official said any rule restricting workers’ movement, even if it is notified, will be highly “unimplementable”.

Meanwhile, Karnataka’s labour minister A Shivaram Hebbar said while he was not aware of the migrant commission in entirety, a clause mandating that states wanting to hire workers take permission from the UP government would be the right approach.

“During the pandemic, we realised that absence of a database of migrant workers only added to the trouble. It is best that every state should keep a tab on people who arrive or leave the state. It helps the government during crisis,” Hebbar told ET. He said he will discuss with chief minister BS Yediyurappa to explore if a similar initiative can be introduced in Karnataka.

Opposition Congress in Karnataka, however, said any such move would be “unconstitutional” and one that goes against the right to freedom of movement. UP Congress said Adityanath’s statement reeked of pride and lacked sensitivity.