CLC's data of stranded migrant wrokers raise more questions than answers

After a rap from the Central Information Commission (CIC), the Chief Labour Commissioner has put out details of stranded migrant labourers on its website but it raises more questions than answers.

According to the document posted on the website clc.gov.in on June 2, they have counted 26.17 lakh stranded migrant labourers, which included around 10 per cent in relief camps and 43 per cent residing workplaces.

Chhattisgarh topped the list with 10.85 lakh migrant workers followed by Kerala with 2.86 lakh and Maharashtra 2.01 lakh. Karnataka had counted 88,852 stranded migrant labourers, including 1,664 in relief camps.

Also read:

Since May 1, the government has run scores of Shramik Special Trains to transport stranded migrant workers to their home states. As on Wednesday, Railways had run 4,197 special trains and transported over 58 lakh migrant labourers.

However, the two-page document does not provide any details about when the data was collected, though the Chief Labour Commissioner had on April 8 instructed its regional offices to collect data within three days.

The office of the CLC had on May 5 said that it has “no such details” to an RTI query raised by transparency activist Venkatesh Nayak, who sought information on April 21 regarding stranded migrant workers after the order on the survey was issued.

Following this, he approached the CIC, which pulled up the Chief Public Information Officer in the office of the CLC who said they did not have data on stranded migrant labourers.

Appalled at the "callous and casual" response in denying data on stranded migrant labourers under the RTI Act, Information Commissioner in the CIC Vanaja N Sarna asked the Ministry of Labour and Employment to upload on its website as much data as possible.

Nayak said the information provided by the CLC was inadequate and it hides more than what it reveals. "We do not know how the numbers are collected. We don't know when this data was collected. We can only assume that it was collected as part of the survey but no such detail is provided. In the name of complying with CIC order, they have uploaded some data but that is not complete data," he told DH.

He said category and sector-wise segregated data about blue collared and white collared migrant workers have not been provided despite the data collection template and guidelines having been designed to collect such information also.

Nayak is also considering going back to the CIC with a complaint about inadequate compliance with its advisory.