Builders, contractors must give ‘no Bangladeshi’ undertaking: Maharashtra govt

MUMBAI: Minister of state for home Yogesh Kadam informed the assembly Tuesday that

Maharashtra government

has asked developers and contractors in Mumbai to give an undertaking that they do not employ Bangladeshis in their projects.
If any Bangladeshi is noticed in the project, it is their responsibility to inform the police, he said. The directive would be issued next in Navi Mumbai, Kadam added.
“Police and labour department conducted inquiries with

contractors and developers

in Mumbai & Thane about employing Bangladeshis, but there was a delay in providing information,” said Kadam. “Then Mumbai’s guardian minister held a meeting and said Mumbai’s contractors and developers will have to give an undertaking that they are not employing Bangladeshi labourers,” he added.
Kadam was responding to a question by BJP MLA Manisha Choudhary on action taken by the state government against Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Meanwhile, Kadam said Maharashtra government has arrested and deported largest number of Bangladeshis in the state’s history. In 2024, state deported 202 Bangladeshis.
However, he said that the state was not able to convert most arrests into deportations because of the lack of cooperation from Bengal government about the documents held by Bangladeshi migrants. “Of 400-500 Bangladeshis that are arrested, only 20-25 can be deported after court proceedings,” he said.
Kadam said most of them had documents and in 99% of cases, these documents were made in Bengal. “In court, we need to prove these documents are fake, but WB government doesn’t cooperate & help us.”