Protest in Shimla over verification of migrants in Shimla,
Credit: PTI Photo
Shimla: District authorities in Shimla on Tuesday made registration and verification of migrant workers in the unorganised sector mandatory, a move that comes after protests in several parts of Himachal Pradesh over the issue of alleged influx of migrants.
Any employer engaging any migrant worker in menial or unorganised sector jobs without police verification and registration and such migrant workers would face penal action under Section 223 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap said in a statement here.
The provision deals with the procedure to be followed when a private complaint is filed before a magistrate.
The migrant workers coming to Shimla would not undertake any non-formal job, service or other employment till they submit their antecedents along with a passport-size photo to the station house officer (SHO) concerned, the order said.
The order would remain in force for the next two months.
The development comes in the backdrop of several Hindu groups and trader outfits demanding the identification and verification of migrants coming to the state.
A committee had been constituted by Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania to frame a policy on street vendors.
The protests, which initially started in Shimla over an unauthorised construction in a mosque, spread to other parts of the state.
Earlier on September 11, 10 people were injured during a protest demanding the demolition of a portion of a mosque in the Sanjauli area of Shimla and the identification and verification of outsiders coming to Himachal Pradesh for work.Two days later, similar protests erupted in Mandi and water cannons had to be used to disperse protesters. Protests were also held in all district headquarters.
The district magistrate of Shimla on Tuesday also issued a prohibitory order under Section 6 of the Punjab Security of State Act 1953, putting a total ban on meetings, rallies, demonstrations, slogan shouting, playing band or carrying any object that can be used as a weapon for criminal act at ten places in state capital Shimla.
The orders which would remain in force for two months, would not be applicable on police personnel, paramilitary forces and soldiers on duty.
The areas covered under prohibitory orders include from Ridge to Kennedy house, scandal Pont to Rivoli and Kali Bari, Chhota Shimla Chowk to Raj Bhawan, Oakover, Gurdwara, road to Kusumpti, CPWD office to Chaura Maidan, AG office Chowk to Cart Road, DC office to Lower Bazaar and Cart Road to Majitha House.
Recently, Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh's remarks on the mandatory display of names by street vendors sparked a row with the Congress and the state government distancing themselves from it.
Similar directives in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh that asked eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners and staff members were slammed by critics and stayed by the Supreme Court in July.