Yogi Adityanath makes a U-turn: States need no permission to hire workers from Uttar Pradesh

CM Yogi Adityanath had said any state that wants migrant workers back from Uttar Pradesh will have to seek permission from his government. He also announced that the government will set up a Migration Commission.

Migrant workers in Uttar Pradesh: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has reversed its decision making it mandatory for states to seek its permission to hire its workers. According to multiple media reports, the government has decided that there will be no such provision in place that bounds other states to seek the Uttar Pradesh government’s prior permission for employing its people.

The decision had sparked a major controversy with several non-BJP ruled states slamming CM Adityanath.

Earlier on Sunday, upset that Uttar Pradesh migrants were not properly taken care of by various states, especially Maharashtra, during the lockdown, CM Adityanath had said any state that wants migrant workers back from Uttar Pradesh will have to seek permission from his government. He also announced that the government will set up a Migration Commission.

The commission is being set up to provide jobs and social security to the workers who have returned from various states. The government also said that it will link the migrants to various schemes to provide them houses and loans etc.

According to the UP government data, about 26 lakh migrants have returned to the state and a massive exercise to map their skills is being carried out to help them get jobs. On Tuesday, CM Adityanath chaired a meeting wherein he discussed the modalities for setting up the commission. He asked his officers to complete the skill mapping exercise in 15 days.

The decision to make states get prior permission had sparked a massive slugfest. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Yogi Adityanath’s stand saying the workers were not his personal property. “These people are not his personal property. They are not the personal property of Uttar Pradesh. These people are Indian citizens and they have the right to decide what they want to do and they have the right to live the life they want to live,” he said.

Earlier on Monday, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had said that any migrant entering Maharashtra will need to take permissions from the Maharashtra government. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut too had slammed Adityanath saying the CM should not forget that migrant workers came to Maharashtra in search of jobs.

“We accepted them and let them work here. We have taken care of these people not just in the last one-and a-half months…they have been working here for years. We all were living together in harmony,” he said.