250 migrants found working illegally in Manipur

Over 250 migrant workers were found working illegally at different construction sites in and around Imphal in the last three days and were handed over to police for necessary action, an umbrella organisation of Manipuris said on Friday.

However, there are no reports so far that these workers -- suspected to be from Bangladesh -- have been booked, Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS) convener Khomdram Ratan said.

JCILPS is an umbrella organisation of 30 civil society groups in Manipur, including all valley student organisations. The JCILPS volunteers mostly are students.

"As per the Inter State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 1979, all workers coming from outside the state should obtain work permits from the labour department," Ratan said. Most, however, do not obtain such permits.

A labour department official said some applications had been submitted for work permits, though he declined to say why such permits were not issued in time.

JCILPS secretary Jitendra Ningombam, who led JCILPS activists' raid at a construction site in the J.N. Institute of Medical Sciences here on Thursday, said: "Out of 63 non-local migrant workers found there, 42 had no work permits."

The construction company has been asked to suspend its work till all its workers possessed the work permits, he said.