CHENNAI,March3,2012: The
Tamil Nadu government has begun
screening migrant labourers employed in
unorganized sectors such as construction, textiles and hotels.
The move follows the recent encounter killings of five suspects from
Bihar and
West Bengal, who were allegedly involved in two bank heists. Social activists havecondemned the enumeration exercise which began a week ago, describing it as discrimination and harassment aimed at creating social tension. ADGP (law and order) S
George told TOI, "We are trying to create a database of genuine labourers so that we can identify the anti-social elements, if any. Our officials will not be disturbing or questioning each and every worker. We have created a format and It is for the contractors to provide the information." He added it was not the intention of the state to trouble genuine workers. Said south zone IG Rajesh Das, "We are collecting A-Z information about migrant workers." Senior police officers defended the profiling, saying it would act as a deterrent against crime. The Chennai police too has begun the process, knocking on
the doors of migrant labourers. A labourer from Bihar, S Gunal, told TOI, "They have taken all details about me and my
friends in Sholinganallur. They are collecting details like names and addresses even from students from the north. In the case of labourers, they take also taking photographs and fingerprints." The state police has focused on areas falling within all the city corporation limits. Senior officials said migrant labourers were huge in numbers in Chennai and Tirupur areas. The move, however, has come in for strong criticism from social activists. Said social researcher Gladston Xavier, "There is no substantial evidence to say migrant workers are involved in big crimes. With this kind of approach, you are only creating a social divide". Professor and coordinator of Arunodhaya migrant's initiates Bernad D Samy agreed. "Most of the migrant labourers are an exploited lot and mostly don't involve themselves in illegal activities. Police should not trouble genuine workers," said Samy. Tirupur superintendent of police V Balakrishnan said the enumeration process in the hosiery hub, which employs thousands of migrant labourers, has been going on for a while. "There are more than one lakh employees in Tirupur district. We started digital profiling of migrant labourers one-and-a-half years ago. Nearly 20,000 workers were profiled then. But it is a continuous process. Groups of workers come and go. So, we have to keep updating the data," said Balakrishnan. The officer said a reception kiosk would be set up at the railway station to screen migrant workers when they come from their native place. "We plan to register their details at the railway station. We are discussing it with the labour department", he added. Police in the state's central zone too has begun the enumeration process, collecting names of migrant labourers, their age and addresses with photo IDs. "We are also collecting the names of the agents or contractors who brought them to the state," said a senior police officer. "We have asked firms employing migrant labourers to submit their details. Our data collection would convey a strong message to them that if they are involved in any kind of anti social activities, they will be traced. But there are lot of difficulties in collecting such data," he said.
