Shillong, Oct 23:Winston Tony Lyngdoh, Chief Executive Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), has expressed concerns about the state government’s process of issuing labour licences to migrant workers.
Lyngdoh stated that it is concerning that migrant workers are receiving labour licences from the state government before they even begin working in Meghalaya, questioning how individuals outside the state can obtain a labour licence without being physically present in Meghalaya.
He said that KHADC’s Non-Tribal Employee Clearance Certificate (NTECC) is issued for six months on payment of Rs 700 after verifying non-tribal employees’ physical presence, helping control migrant worker influx.
However, he said that the council can evict illegal migrant workers lacking documents but cannot deport them.
He said the NTECC implementation is ongoing, with outsourced work to identify non-tribal employees. The KHADC will write to the state government suggesting that labourers apply for labour licences through the NTECC issued by the council.
The state government passed its own legislation in 2020 to require labourers from outside the state to register with it online in a move that saw the government step on the KHADC’s (as well as the other two district councils’) toes. However, Lyngdoh today insisted that the council retains authority over non-tribal workers in Sixth Schedule areas under the KHADC’s jurisdiction.
“Our decision to issue the NTECC is after we see the physical presence of the said non-tribal employee. We issue a slip to give time to the non-tribal labour to produce necessary documents, including EPIC, Aadhaar, residential certificate, passbook account, etc. within 15 days. This shows that the KHADC can control the coming of migrant workers in Meghalaya,” Lyngdoh stated.
