The Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren has recently announced that he has allowed the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to recruit about 11,800 skilled workers from the state for projects in the border and hilly areas. The state government had earlier denied permission to the BRO stating the welfare concerns of these workers.
Just days after the denial, the Jharkhand government has now become the first government to sign a first-of-its-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the central government operated organization for ensuring the welfare of its workforce for current and future projects.
Announcing the development on Twitter, CM Hemant Soren said, “National security is our top priority & simultaneously we accord equal priority to ensure honour, wages and rights of our workers are guaranteed while serving the nation in border areas. We look fwd to cooperation from @DefenceMinIndia & @rajnathsingh’ji to ensure compliance.”
“We are committed to the welfare of our workers and our tribal brothers have long served the nation and built its frontiers. We are ready to send our workers in the interest of national security but will not allow any compromise of their honour, welfare rights, benefits and dignity,” Soren said.
Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office have said that the MoU will be prepared by the state’s labour department along with cooperation from the CMO. It will ensure an institutional framework safeguarding the benefits and welfare of workers from the state going to work at high-altitude projects of the BRO.
The 11, 815 workers that the BRO had requested for recruitment are needed for Operation Vijayak in Ladakh (about 8,000 workers required), Project Shivalik in Uttarakhand, Project Deepak in Himachal Pradesh, Project Beacon in Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
The BRO has conveyed to the Jharkhand government that it will sign the MoU once approval is given by the Ministry of Defence, sources said, citing a letter from the BRO to Jharkhand Principal Secretary Rajeev Arun Ekka.
The permission given is on the condition that the BRO has to register as an employer under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, and do direct recruitment of all workers from Jharkhand instead of the system of ‘Mates’.
The chief minister is also contemplating creating a special medical insurance coverage of ₹10-15 lakh for each worker, over and above what is being proposed by the BRO, according to a PTI report.
The approval to the BRO comes amid a massive operation by the Jharkhand government to facilitate the return of its workers who were stranded in different parts of the Union Territory of Ladakh due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. More than 200 migrant workers of Jharkhand will be flown from Leh in four batches this week. Earlier, 60 stranded Jharkhand labourers were flown from Leh on May 29 on commercial flights by the government.
With the airlifting process, Jharkhand became the first state in India to reach out to its workers in various parts of the country amid a massive migrant exodus occurred due to coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
While a majority of states are tweaking their labour laws to lure corporates for projects in their state, this move by the Jharkhand government has certainly paved the way for big labour reforms in favour of the suppressed labour force. However, it took an entire pandemic for the governments to understand and act on the plight of these workers.
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