Muzaffarpur Labour Superintendent booked for not attending meeting regarding migrant labourers

An FIR has been registered against the Labour Superintendent of Muzaffarpur on Saturday for not attending an important meeting regarding the movement of migrant labourers in light of the coronavirus situation.

According to an FIR copy, Vinay Kumar, Labour Superintendent, Muzaffarpur, was booked under Sections 2, 3 and 4 of The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, for failing to show up at an important meeting despite repeated instructions.

The copy stated that a meeting was convened on Saturday by the District Magistrate Dr Chandrasekhar Singh regarding the migrant labourers, wherein he sought the help of all district officers to provide assistance to the labourers in the wake of rising cases of COVID-19.

However, when Kumar failed to show up at the meeting at 1 PM, he was contacted through telephone, where he said that he could attend the meeting as he was in Patna on that day. Following this, when he was asked to be present in the District Headquarters without delay to provide assistance to the migrant labourers, he plainly refused to attend.

The FIR copy informed that Kumar was in Patna from the day of lockdown, while he was deputed to the control room of Sadar Hospital, Muzaffarpur. Furthermore, he was on unauthorised leave from the District Headquarters.

The DM saw this as a grave situation, which depicted his indiscipline, arbitrariness and unprofessional behaviour towards senior officials.

Migrant workers in very large numbers have been trekking back to their villages on foot from Delhi and other cities owing to the paucity of work following the nationwide lockdown. The lockdown was announced by the Central government on Tuesday to prevent the spread of coronavirus.