Bihar to open labour grievance office in Delhi for migrants

Chandigarh, Dec 17 (UNI) The Bihar government will open a Labour and Employment office in New Delhi to look after the interests of the migrant labourers from Bihar engaged in the agricultural and industrial sectors in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

''A migrant from Bihar working in any of the northern states can get his complaint registered at this office if injustice has been meeted out to him or her by his employer or by the law enforcing agencies or any other department,'' Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi said, addressing a press conference here today.

The Deputy Chief Minister, who was here to campaign for the BJP candidates for the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls, said the Bihar government had decided to give a compensation of Rs one lakh to the next of kin of any migrant labourer who dies in an accident in another state. He pointed out that there are about 50 lakh Biharis who were earning their livelihood in other states of the country.

While claiming that ever since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assumed office, migration from Bihar had gone down, Mr Modi said a large number of engineers, doctors and other professionals left Bihar for fear of being kidnapped. However, in the last one year, with an improvement in the law and order situation, migration of professionals had come down, he claimed.

Turning to the labour class, he said they normally leave Bihar as they find it difficult to get two square meals a day. But efforts are being made to make the atmosphere condusive for the working class so that they do not have to go to progressive states like Punjab and Haryana in search of employment, he added.

MORE UNI HS SHB GC1646