Migrant labourers to blame for 90% crimes in Goa: Chief Minister

The CM said that once migrant labourers are registered with the labour department, the government will have a database of their respective addresses and it can help police to investigate or track any cases if required.

Written by Pavneet Singh Chadha

Panaji | May 1, 2023 08:22 PM IST

2 min read

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. (File photo)

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Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Monday said that maximum crimes in Goa are committed by migrant labourers, and appealed to contractors and employers to obtain a ‘labour card’ before engaging labourers for work in the state.

At a Labour Day programme organised at Shram Shakti Bhavan in Panjim, Sawant said, “Every migrant labourer working in Goa should possess a labour card. We promised this in the budget… about providing labour cards. After committing a crime here, migrant labourers return to their state and it becomes difficult to catch them. If we see the ratio… maximum… 90% of the crimes in Goa are done by migrant labourers. Be it from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh or from other areas. I am not going into details of that.”

The Chief Minister said that two NGOs have been brought onboard to ensure that all labourers are issued the cards. “The facilities shall be made available online soon,” he added.

Also Read | Goa horror for Dutch tourist: Molested and stabbed by resort staff

Sawant said that once migrant labourers are registered with the labour department, the government will have a database of their respective addresses and it can help police to investigate or track any cases if required.

He added that he has directed the labour commission to utilise welfare funds for the betterment and upliftment of the labour community.

In March, after a 27-year-old employee of a resort, who hailed from Uttarakhand, was arrested for allegedly molesting and stabbing a Dutch woman tourist at a resort in North Goa, Sawant had instructed all the hotels to obtain a ‘Goa labour card’ for their staffers. The CM had also directed the hotels to do a thorough background check for any criminal antecedents before employing staff.

After two reported incidents of hotel staff attacking foreign nationals in the state in March, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte had said that police verification of workers at hotels and resorts, especially those employing people from outside the state, shall be conducted.

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