West Bengal to launch mobile app on migrant workers’ data

In a bid to prepare a comprehensive database of migrant workers who returned to the state during the nationwide lockdown, the West Bengal government is set to launch a mobile application. According to sources in the Labour Department, the application will have detailed information such as the name, residential address, district and place of work of returning migrant workers.

The sources further revealed that so far the state government has prepared a list of 11 lakh migrant workers who have returned to Bengal. However, the related data from some districts are yet to arrive, said a senior official of the Labour Department.

Apart from individual details of the returning migrant workers, the application will also have information regarding the bank account of the worker and that of his or her nominee, voter identity and Aadhar card and information regarding social security schemes the worker is enrolled in.

The state government is also considering whether the application can be used for swift payment of social security schemes to the workers.

“We are also thinking of incorporating a feature through the state government, where the concerned worker is employed, can be contacted swiftly in any emergency,” said the official.

However, it will be for the migrant workers to update his or her employment and other crucial information to ensure that he or she gets full benefits of the application.

Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak said that the mobile application is in final stage of the development and will be launched soon.

“Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will decide the name of the application. She will also officially launch it. The date of the launch will soon be finalised,” said Ghatak.

The development comes at a time when the Centre and the state government are at loggerheads over the issue of migrant workers and recently Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had accused the state government of not sending data regarding workers, as a result of which, Bengal could not be brought under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan scheme.