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Journalism of Courage
Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar has written to states and Union Territories, asking them to designate nodal officers to coordinate with the 20 control rooms set up by the Ministry to address issues being faced by workers during the ongoing nationwide lockdown to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Friday, 2,100 grievances were received in the 20 control rooms, of which 1,400 pertain to various state/UT governments, a Labour Ministry statement said.
The need for a coordinated action between states and Centre was felt after data showed that more than two-thirds of the complaints received by the control rooms pertained to states/Union Territories.
“The coordinated efforts of central and state governments are required in order to resolve the grievances of the workers,” the statement quoted Gangwar as saying.
Labour being a concurrent subject, it is important that proper coordination is established with various state/UT governments to resolve the grievances, the statement said. “Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar has requested various State/UT governments to designate a nodal officer from Labour Department to coordinate with Control Rooms set up by Union Government for addressing issues of the labour/workers in the country in view of the lockdown announced to combat COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The Union Labour and Employment Ministry had set up 20 control rooms across the country to address distress calls and complaints for workers in central sphere amid the ongoing 21-day national lockdown to counter the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. About 60 officers, three each in the 20 regions, have been given the task of monitoring the complaints and issues being faced by workers in the central sphere, which are establishments under the central government, railways, mines, oil-fields, major port or any other central public sector undertaking.
