Govt mulls amending Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act

Government plans to amend the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 in order to make it gender-neutral, Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said today.
"Though at present there is no proposal to revamp the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, there is a proposal under consideration of the government to amend the Act with a view to making it gender neutral," he said in Rajya Sabha.
The government had enacted the Act to regulate employment of inter-state migrant workmen and to provide for their service conditions.
Replying to a supplementary during Question Hour, Kharge said government's effort has been to prevent distress migration.

In this connection, he said introduction of the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA) has helped in reducing the number of migration of workers in the country.
"Because of MNREGA, (number of) migrant workers going from one state to another has reduced," Kharge said.