Labour dept’s ongoing inspection confirms migrant workers are still being accommodated inside units in violation of labour norms; Fate of GIDC show cause notices issued in March 2023 remains unknown
Clothes kept for drying at an industrial unit at the Cuncolim IDC unearthed during an inspection by teams of labour inspectors.
MARGAO
In mid-March, 2023, a joint inspection of the industrial units at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate by Labour and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) officials had unearthed gross labour irregularities, including illegal housing of industrial workers inside the factory premise.
An ongoing inspection of the Cuncolim industrial units by teams of inspectors of the Labour Department have only confirmed the stark reality at the industrial estate unearthed 20 months ago – how thousands of migrant workers employed in the industrial units are accommodated inside the units in violation of labour norms.
That’s not all. When the inspection teams constituted by Labour Commissioner Levinson Martins hopped from one unit to another as part of the inspections, officials came across residential units inside the factories in rampant violation of the rules in force.
Instances of industrial workers washing linen in the open, clothes put up for drying in the multi-dwelling units, waste water discharged in the open drains have come under the scanner of the labour inspection teams. Garbage stream around the residential units only further goes to show that the units are occupied by the industrial workers, throwing up a moot question whether there’s any change in the ground reality in the Cuncolim IDC in respect of the illegal housing of workers in the factory premises.
While the inspection teams are on the job to inspect the units and are expected to cap the exercise in the next few days, sources told The Goan there’s hardly any change in the ground reality at the Cuncolim IDC in the last 20 months, if one compared the situation in mid-March 2023 to mid-November 2024.
Labour officials, however, pointed out that the illegal housing of labourers fall in the domain of the estate owner, the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). “Our inspection of the industrial units was purely to find out whether the factory managements were complying with the mandatory labour requirements. The issue of illegal accommodation inside the factory premises falls in the domain of the GIDC. It’s for the IDC to initiate further action in the matter,” remarked a labour officer. The labour officer, however, hastened to caution that time is running out for the government agencies, including the GIDC to act and crack a whip before the industrial estate is hit by a major disaster. “We cannot brush aside the chilling incident that a migrant worker had died in an industrial accident at the Cuncolim IDC three years ago following ammonia leakage when he was sleeping in a makeshift accommodation in the compound of another industrial unit. Things have not changed for the better since then,” the officer added.
Incidentally, after the joint inspection of the Cuncolim IDC conducted in mid-March, 2023, the GIDC Managing Director had issued notices to the industrial units to show cause how they have been accommodating the workers inside the premises.
The fate of the show cause notices, however, remains unknown till date for reasons best known to the Goa IDC, with sources in the know saying the government has been toying with the idea of enacting a Legislation making provision for residential units inside the industrial estates. In fact, there were discreet moves to increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) inside the industrial estates to provide for housing amenities for the industrial workers.
Labour Dept cracks down on non-compliant units
MARGAO: A total of seven major industrial units, including steel rolling mills, besides fish processing units at the Cuncolim Industrial Estate, have been inspected by teams of Labour inspectors constituted by Labour Commissioner Levinson Martins.
Deputy Labour Commissioner, North, Prasad Pednekar, who has been deputed to the Cuncolim Industrial Estate said the teams have been given a brief to verify/ inspect and issue notices to the establishment for compliance under various Labour Legislations such as the Inter-State Migrant Workman (Regulation and Abolition), Act, 1970; the Payment of Wages, 1936; the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) 1970, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, etc.
He said the process of covering the remaining establishment is in progress and will continue till completion of units. “Our teams of labour inspectors have tried to find out whether the workers are being paid the wages under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and whether the workers are being provided with bare minimum amenities under the laws in force,” he said.
Sources pointed out that when the contractors bringing the migrant workers into the State, they are mandated to comply with the provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workman (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970. “The inspectors have been on the job to find out whether these migrant labourers have been provided bare minimum facilities such as accommodation, sanitation, etc by the contractors in the premises where they are all housed,” the official added.
