The Sikkim government has tightened the noose around illegal immigrants and workers and has made it mandatory for all outsiders to get themselves registered in the state.
Sources said the decision was taken after weighing multiple factors.
“The influx of immigrants poses a threat of swamping the local population. The move is also to discourage criminals and people with shady antecedents from taking refuge in the state, which is sensitive for national security,” said a source.
Sikkim has registered a negative decadal population growth, shrinking from 6.82 lakh in 2011 to 6.38 lakh in 2023.
“Even though only about 35,000 outsiders were registered, more than 1 lakh workers from outside Sikkim had to evacuate during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said a source.
According to the Sikkim Labour (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2021, only registered people are authorised to work in the state. Those from the unorganised sector need to submit their Aadhaar and voter identity cards and pay a registration fee of ₹200 each to obtain labour cards.
For the organised sector, the employer and labour contractors are responsible for registering their workers and submitting data to the labour department monthly.
Government officials have directed all house owners to get their tenants registered according to The Sikkim Tenant and Domestic and Professional Helps (compulsory verification) Act, 2008.
“Even though these acts were in place, they were not being strictly followed,” said a source. “Since last week, the government has been addressing the issue of illegal immigrants on a war footing.”
The government, however, clarified on Tuesday that local people possessing any of five documents namely, Sikkim subject certificate, certificate of identification, residential certificate, land parcha (document) and Sikkim voter ID card, need not register with police.