SRINAGAR: The Labour Department, Kashmir today started a campaign in all the districts to have checks on the Placement Agencies, who usually get their workers from other states and deploy them for domestic purposes at various residential homes of the Kashmir Valley.
The aim of this campaign is only to ensure that these workers are formally brought from other states with their consent and are not Bonded Labourers. Further, it is also to ensure that these workers/domestic helpers are insured under various schemes of the department so that during any untoward incident the house owner, the worker and the establishment owner remain secured, so far as the health or any accident is concerned.
Accordingly, it was found that 40 Placement Agencies registered with the Labour Department of Kashmir have been deploying 2000 (approx.) workers as domestic helpers to the various sites.
Today 40 Placement Agencies were inspected in the districts of Kashmir Division in which compulsory registrations of the Labour Department were obtained from the establishment owners, the details of the workers were also obtained from the establishment owners first of all it was ensured that no worker was below the age of 14 years deployed for this purpose.
Secondly, it was also ensured that every worker came with his consent and payment was made in the bank accounts of the respective worker.
The workers personally interacted with the teams at various offices of these Placement Agencies and confirmed with them the living conditions, wages, age and other necessary help provided to them during their stay and transport from their homes to the final destinations.
During the inspections, each and every Placement Agency was informed to have each worker registered under the Employees State Insurance Scheme so that everybody in the chain remains secured, particularly the labourer and the house owner.
It is also requested that the general public ascertain the ESIC registration of these workers before getting them for any kind of help so that in case of any untoward incident, with this helper, both the helper and the owner remain secured.
The campaign was launched under the guidance of Deputy Labour Commissioner, Kashmir who along with the Assistant Labour Commissioner, Srinagar and other Labour Officers/Labour Inspectors inspected various placement agencies of Srinagar District.
