Registration of guest workers is the only way to ensure that each and every one of them is counted, thereby getting government benefits. As on date, only around 5.2 lakh guest workers have been mapped. This accounts for less than 15% of the workforce from other states. A senior official in the department said it would be a difficult task to map the guest workers as they were a floating Population.
Officials in thelabour departmentadmitted that a large section of guest workers in the unorganised sector were missing from the government Database. They were also facing challenges in mapping them in the department’s drive through online portal registration. This once again proved the law enforcing agencies failure to implement the Inter-State Workmen (Regulation of EMPLOYMENT & Conditions of Services) Act 1979 and other labour laws that were brought in to protect the rights of workers and extend them social security. These acts mandate registration of guest workers, protect their rights and ensure safe Migration, Health and safety at the workplace, and provision of creche at the worksite.