Meghalaya: 15 migrant workers found without valid documents in Shillong

The Anti-Infiltration Directorate in Meghalaya conducted a checking drive on migrant workers, at construction sites in Nongmensong and Mawpat areas in Shillong, on June 24 and found 15 workers without any valid documents.

The workers, mostly from Assam, were asked to produce documents such as labour licenses, Aadhaar cards, and EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Cards).

According to sources, 15 migrant workers were found without any valid documents during the checking drive. The directorate officials have warned that migrant workers without any valid documents will be sent back to their state.

The Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) lauded the efforts of the directorate to detect illegal migrant workers, adding that checking without asking for a work permit will be a futile exercise because the law seeks to prevent labourers from settling in Meghalaya.

The general secretary of KSU, Donald V Thabah said, “We urged the anti-infiltration directorate to ask migrant workers and contractors, who are engaging with them, to produce their work permit failing which they should be sent back or punished as per law of the land.”

Meanwhile, the KSU general secretary also said that the KSU would like to ask the state government about the fate of the Meghalaya Residents Safety & Security Act (MRSSA), 2016, further questioning, “What is holding the government back from implementing the MRSSA when the Centre through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had returned the same to the state government?” 

Furthermore, stating that the union would find out the reason before taking a decision to pressure the government for its implementation, Thabah said, “The KSU would also like to remind the MDA government, lest it forgets, the need to aggressively pursue with the NDA government on the pending demands for implementation of ILP, inclusion of Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule and others.”