Raj Thackeray takes on Yogi Adityanath on Migrant Issue

Yogi Adityanath frustrated with the struggles of migrant workers from UP today fired the first salvo against labour recipient States by saying this

If any state wants manpower, the state government will have to guarantee social security and insurance of the workers. Without our permission they will not be able to take our people

According to the 2011 Census, 13 million people born in UP were living in other States. Given the poor state of the UP economy, this is only like to have increased in the last 9 years.

Can the UP Govt insist on taking permission?

By law, UP Government can do no such thing as India allows free flow of labour and Government has no say in where a worker can take up a job. The statement perhaps is more a statement of concern about how migrant labour have been treated during the last two months and expectations of better treatment by the recipient States.

However, the comment was not received well. Raj Thackeray of the MNS was the first to respond today with a press release via his Twitter account

Marathi is spoken by 68% of Maharashtrians and perhaps much lesser in Mumbai. There is a fear of loss of identity and culture as more and more migrants enter Maharashtra. On top of it now being told to take permission could possible ignite even more negative feelings towards migrants.

However, the reality is, Uttar Pradesh with its rampant fertility rate and Maharashtra with its high labour cost need each other. This kind of posturing and arguments happen when there is an economic or social crisis as it is now with COVID-19. Therefore, It is unlikely to last long. However, if the economy does not improve, it will bring many of these fears back to the table again and worsen the situation. The centre must quickly intervene and control this.