Kerala Minister condemns alleged rights violations against migrant workers in northern states

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Labour Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday strongly condemned the alleged human rights violations faced by migrant workers in northern states, particularly in the Delhi-NCR region, and expressed the state's solidarity with their ongoing protests.

Addressing a press conference here, Sivankutty said lakhs of workers in states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were being forced to agitate not for better wages or working conditions, but for their basic right to live with dignity.

He said issues highlighted in a recent letter sent to the Prime Minister by CPI(M) General Secretary M A Baby were extremely serious and warranted urgent attention.

The minister alleged that rising inflation and shortage of cooking gas has made life miserable for common people, and that the existing minimum wages in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were insufficient for a family to live with dignity in the current economic conditions.

Sivankutty said Kerala has already set a model by implementing minimum wages across 85 sectors, and demanded that minimum wages in the Delhi-NCR region be standardised at Rs 26,000 per month.

He further alleged that instead of addressing the legitimate demands of workers, governments in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were resorting to police repression.

"Even pregnant women are being subjected to brutal assault," he claimed.

The minister also criticised what he described as "attempts to suppress democratic protests" by framing false cases against labour leaders and putting them in jail.

He said the refusal of authorities to meet a delegation of MPs who visited Noida reflected arrogance.

Sivankutty urged the Centre to withdraw the new labour codes, release arrested workers, and ensure subsidised cooking gas for migrant labourers.

He also called upon the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter urgently.

Reiterating Kerala's support, the minister said the state stands firmly with workers in their fight against what he termed "anti-labour policies".