How Chikkamagaluru Police Are Using Technology to Verify Migrant Workers
Chikkamagaluru: With the number of migrant labourers employed in coffee estates increasing across Karnataka, particularly in coffee-growing districts such as Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan, the Chikkamagaluru district police have developed a unique digital portal to verify the identities and credentials of migrant workers.
Chikkamagaluru, regarded as one of Karnataka’s major coffee-producing regions, receives around three lakh migrant workers annually during its two coffee harvesting seasons. A significant proportion of these workers arrive from West Bengal and Assam, according to a report published in The New Indian Express.
Chikkamagaluru Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama said plantation owners had been instructed to submit government-issued identity documents and other details of their managers, administrative staff and workers, especially those recruited from outside the state.
Developed in July with assistance from the National Informatics Centre (NIC), the portal allows the police to examine and verify the information submitted by estate owners. So far, details of approximately 2,400 migrant workers have been recorded on the platform.
Dayama said the police could check the authenticity of Aadhaar cards but faced difficulties determining whether the documents had been obtained through illegal means. The department has sought NIC’s assistance to strengthen the verification mechanism.
When concerns arise, officers also examine workers’ backgrounds for possible criminal records through the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS).
The initiative has already led to the identification and arrest of seven Bangladeshi nationals in August. According to the SP, the individuals possessed genuine Aadhaar cards that had allegedly been obtained illegally through agents in West Bengal for Rs 2,000 each. The documents reportedly contained incorrect parental details and false local addresses.
The police have also expressed concern over instances of suspicion directed at migrant workers based on their appearance and language. Dayama said two cases related to moral policing had been registered earlier this year, with preventive intervention helping avert the possibility of communal tensions.
The police are now seeking to integrate the portal with Aadhaar verification facilities to improve their ability to identify documents allegedly obtained through fraudulent means.
Migrant workers are recruited through private contractors during the Arabica harvesting season and the Robusta season in November to April. Their labour remains essential to coffee production in Chikkamagaluru and other plantation districts, including Kodagu and Hassan.
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