Does UP govt want to scrap labourers' constitutional rights, asks Priyanka

CM Adityanath had on May 25 said that the state government will provide social security and insurance to labourers

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said the Uttar Pradesh government appeared to be attacking the constitutional rights of labourers, referring to its recent decision of forming a 'Migration Commission'.

"Instead of helping labourers, the Uttar Pradesh government has taken a strange decision whereby nobody will be able to employ the labourers without the state government's permission. Does the government want labour to become bonded? Does the government want to abolish the constitutional rights of labourers?" Priyanka tweeted.

"The labourers' issue needs to be solved through an empathetic approach. For this end, we want to keep politics apart and help the government in solving the issue but we will surely not let the government be successful in augmenting the labourers' problems," she added.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on May 25 said that the state government will provide social security and insurance to labourers and no state can take manpower from Uttar Pradesh without his government's permission.

"If any state wants manpower, they cannot take our people from the state without our permission as there were reports of misbehaviour with them in other states. We are taking full responsibility for labourers' social security. We will provide every kind of security to them including insurance. Wherever they will go, we will always stand by them," he said.

The Chief Minister said that skill mapping is being done in Uttar Pradesh and a commission will be set up for labourers to ensure employment for them.

On May 24, the CM had ordered the formation of a 'Migration Commission' for the purpose of providing the workers, who have returned to the state during the lockdown phase, with employment suited to their skills.