J’khand govt accuses BRO of violating Migrant Workmen Act, warns of action

In a communication to the director general of the BRO on Tuesday, state labour secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma has urged the central agency, which has traditionally been hiring CLP from the state for its projects, to get itself registered as the ‘principal employer’ under the Act.

“The season of CPL recruitment is about to begin and the Jharkhand government is receiving complaints that BRO’s road construction companies have started recruiting migrant workers as CLPs again in an opaque manner. The government of Jharkhand has humbly requested the BRO multiple times to follow provisions of the said Act, but the BRO has not shown any sincerity towards the requests,” the letter, seen by HT, reads.

“The government of Jharkhand appeals to BRO to register as a principal employer and its labour agencies/ contractors/ mates/ manpower suppliers take licenses with concerned authorities of the state as per the Act and abide by its provisions. If the BRO is found to be violating the requirements of the said Act, the government of Jharkhand would initiate stringent action through concerned authorities, against such perpetrators, as per the provisions provided in the said Act,” the letter said.

In his letter, the secretary has underlined that the state labour commissioner has repeatedly raised the issue in the last two years with the agency related to complaints received from CLPs about violations of rules and urged the agency to follow the norms.

Officials said the labour department had also taken up the matter with the secretary of the union territory of Ladakh where migrant workers from the state were engaged by the BRO. However, despite mutual agreement the central agency is yet to registered itself as the principal employer under the Act, the officials said.

The BRO was not available for comments.