Registration must for migrant workers, vendors: Shimla DC

The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Shimla has made it mandatory for migrant workers, street vendors, hawkers and other outside labourers temporarily residing in different parts of the district to register themselves with the nearest police station. These orders will remain in effect until November 30.

Under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the DC has directed entrepreneurs, traders, contractors, farmers and others employing migrant labourers to ensure that complete details of their workers, along with photographs, are submitted to the local police station for registration. The order also mandates street vendors, hawkers and other workers from outside the district to personally register themselves at the nearest police station.

The DC said that local residents must verify and register the identity of tenants before renting out their houses to outsiders. “Employers will also have to ensure antecedent verification of migrant workers, which involves checking an individual’’s character and past record from the police station of their native area to confirm their reliability. No migrant worker will be allowed to seek employment in the district without registering with the police station under whose jurisdiction the workplace falls,” said the DC.

He further said any violation of these orders by migrant workers, their employers or landlords will lead to legal action under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). “A large number of labourers, street vendors, hawkers and workers from other states arrive in Shimla district every year, often residing in rented houses or at temporary construction sites. In case of any incident or crime, the involvement of such outsiders makes police investigations difficult. Therefore, mandatory registration of all migrant workers and outsiders at nearby police stations has been deemed essential for maintaining law and order in the district,” said Kashyap.