Migrant workers will have to register on return: Maharashtra minister

Labourers who have gone back to their home states amid lockdown for coronavirus will have to register themselves when they return to Maharashtra, state Industries Minister Subhash Desai said here on Saturday.

He also said that Maharashtra has enough labour force of its own. "(Migrant) Labourers have returned to their home states just with their clothes. They may come back after some time. At present we have enough labor force to supply to our industries," he said, speaking to reporters.

"But if the labourers from other states return, they will need to register their names here," said Desai, a senior Shiv Sena leader. The minister also visited a special hospital for COVID-19 patients being set up at Chikalthana and a testing laboratory at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University here.

"The laboratory will also study how COVID warriors can be saved from getting infected while serving coronavirus patients," he said. He also ordered that fever clinics be set up wherever necessary, a district official said.