Only 20 control rooms to deal with 40 crore workers' woes

New Delhi: The Labour Ministry on Tuesday said it has set up 20 control rooms on pan-India basis to address wage-related grievances and to mitigate problems faced by migrant workers amid the lockdown period to contain the Covid-19 crisis. According to an International Labour Organisation assessment, 40 crore informal sector workers in India could be pushed deeper into poverty due to this lockdown.

"The Ministry of Labour and Employment has set up 20 control rooms under the Office of Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) (C) on pan-India basis due to issues arising in the backdrop of Covid-19," it said in a statement. These control rooms have been set up to address wage related grievances of workers employed in the Central Sphere, the ministry said, adding that it would also work to mitigate the problems of migrant workers through coordination with various state governments. These call centres can be accessed by the workers through phone numbers, Whatsapp and e-mails.

The control rooms are being managed by labour enforcement officers, assistant labour commissioners, regional labour commissioners, and deputy chief labour commissioners of the respective regions.

India has ordered 15 million personal protection gear besides a few million testing kits from China to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country and their smooth procurement at stable prices will send the "best signal possible" for Sino-Indian ties, India's Ambassador in Beijing Vikram Misri said on Tuesday.