The city police, on Saturday, sought the cooperation of all hotel and restaurant owners in Kozhikode to make identity cards mandatory for migrant labourers.
City Police Commissioner A.V. George, who chaired a special meeting in this regard at the Alakapuri auditorium here, said the project would be implemented with the technical support of the Special Branch.
He said the template of the card would be finalised by the Special Branch officials and the expense of printing the same should be borne by the hotel owners concerned. “Along with the other details of the employee, the card would also feature the particulars of the employers or hotel owners concerned,” he explained.
Though the project would initially cover only migrant labourers, it would be made mandatory for all other workers in the second phase.
Other entrepreneursEmployers, including textile shop owners and construction companies, too would be asked to follow the norm while recruiting employees.
Project motiveThe Commissioner, while explaining the motive behind the new project, said that there were several occasions when police struggled to verify the identity of migrant workers when they came across suspicious circumstances.
“The workers used to claim as employers of various hotels, but many a time, it was very difficult to verify the claims with the employers concerned,” he said.
Separate recordUnder the scheme, the Special Branch would collect two photographs from the employers to prepare the identity cards and maintain a separate record of each labourer in the department. To ensure the credibility of information, hotel owners were also directed to collect any of the available identity proof from the labourers.
In the absence of such proofs, the owners themselves had to call the family members of the recruited labourer and verify the address details.
“The project is implemented with a mission to ensure proper security in the sector and prevent attempts in which migrant labourers flee from the spot after committing crimes,” the Commissioner said.
He also said that 90 per cent of the total migrant labourers were truthful in their jobs, but, chances of misbehaviour from the remaining population could not be ruled out.
Assistant Commissioner (Special Branch) P.C. Sajeevan and leaders of hotel and restaurant owners’ associations also addressed the meeting, in which over 50 entrepreneurs took part.
