The Apex Court directed all States and Union Territories to get all establishments registered and provide license to all contractors under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979.
The bench gave the said direction to the States/UTs in order to ensure that the statutory duty of contractors to provide the particulars of migrant workers is complied with.
Prior to this direction, the bench noted that though the enactment of 1979 had been implemented by several States, no proper license had been provided to the contractors nor had the establishments been registered under the Act.
The bench highlighted the object of 1979 enactment and stated that the Act had been passed with an aim to protect the migrant workers from the illicit practices of their employers’. The non-implementation of the same would adversely affect the rights of migrant workers.
Chapter II of the Act provides that no principal employer of an establishment shall employ inter-State migrant workmen in its establishment unless a certificate of registration had been issued in favor of such establishment.
Apart from this, Chapter III of the Act provides for license of contractors and such may consist of conditions under which the workmen would be recruited, paid remuneration, work for particular hours, and additional amenities.
The bench observed that this legislation had been enacted as a welfare measure for the migrant workers’ which has to be strictly implemented by each State/UT. The bench also emphasized that none of the affidavits filed on behalf of the States/UTs illustrate any figure or fact pertaining to the implementation of the Act.
The bench gave the said direction and observation in the case of Re: Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers.
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