SHILLONG, JULY 10: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said as many as four FIRs have been filed against different organizations for conducting unauthorized checking against labourers working in different construction sites in the state.
Speaking to reporters, Sangma said, “Nobody is authorized to check these papers, nobody can. Of course there are incidents where individual organizations go (and check) but that is not as per law. Therefore, they (NGOs) are completely in the wrong side of the law that they go and check.”
The CM informed, “Four FIRs have been filed against different organizations, which have done in the past few days.”
He said that registration of migrant labourers is done by the labour department.
“That is the only policy that is followed by our state and as you know this is done by our government only in the first year of MDA-1 and it is the labour department that is looking into all these aspects. So as I said there is no work permit, nothing like that but registration is mandatory and this was done if you recall from all aspects – to provide safety for the respected individual labourers and to keep full data based of the different labourers working,” Sangma said.
The Chief Minister said that the question of implementing the ILP doesn’t arise because ILP has not been passed or not been implemented or not been enforced in the state of Meghalaya.
“We have passed a resolution in the state Assembly urging the government of India to implement the ILP in the state but that has not been clear yet. So the question of not implementing it does not arise,” he said.
The CM said, “It’s a fact that you are aware we have passed the MRSSA, made the amendments in it but it was at the Governor’s level and Governor had then sent or mentioned that it should be sent to the Central government home ministry for president’s assent and accordingly we had sent it and they had sent back asking us to look into different aspects which again we are examining those aspects and examining on how to move forward as a lot of points have been mentioned by the government. So the question of non-implementation doesn’t arise.”
Asked, Sangma informed that there has no project being stalled because of the ongoing unauthorized checking by different organizations.
“Regarding the different projects being stalled, no project has been stalled because of this kind of checks or whatever they called it, I will not call it checks as they are just coming and intervening and try to disturb these projects, which is not correct.”
He requested all concerns to come forward and ask the departments concerned to provide list of the labourers.
“Of course if anybody has any concern we are ready to inform and give them the information but as I said taking the law into their own hands and going and doing the social checking or whatever they may call it is something which is actually not at all acceptable and as I said as per law and the provisions of the law, the police will take necessary action,” he said.
The CM said, “For me to sit and say that they are adhering would not be possible as there are many people working everywhere but as per law each one has to and most of the locations and most of the individuals and contractors are adhering to this particular law.”
“And if somebody is not adhering people can complaint and inform to us and we will take necessary action. If there is a concern, raise it with us and we will take up the matter and talk to specific individuals or particular contractor who is responsible for that,” he added.