Odisha Government taking steps to stop Labour Migration
Bhubaneswar, Sep 18: Farmers have been migrating to other states in search of work following severe droughts in Western Odisha. Concerning over the issue the Labour Commission of Odisha expressed that many more farmers may migrate to other states due to crop failure in the coming days especially after the Nuakhai celebrations are over.
The Labour Commission has issued directives to district collectors to check the migration of labour to other states. Around 105 blocks in 23 districts in the state have been affected due to drought. It is expected that number of the migrant labourers from Western Odisha would increase this year following severe drought.
The district collectors were issued directives for the effective implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (MGNREGA) to provide sufficient work to the card holders so that they would not migrate to other places. They were also directed to check on the activities of the labour contractors and brokers to minimize the labour migration in districts.
The collectors of Kalahandi, Bolangir Nuapada, Sonepur, Ganjam, Sambalpur and Nayagarh were directed to take immediate actions to check labour migration.
Due to the complication in getting money from the MGNREGA scheme card holders have been migrating to other places for work. Central government has been providing around Rs. 1500 crore to Rs 2000 crore to Odisha government every years under MGNREGA scheme. Villagers in the state have been migrating to other places due to lapses in the implementation.
In last four years, 4, 53,229 villagers migrated from Odisha to other states in search of work. The migrant workers from Odisha have been exploited by brokers or institutions and vulnerable to bondage situations. The Odisha Labour Commission had rescued 3113 migrant workers from various places. 19 migrant workers were killed and two inured in last four years. Labour migration is high in Odisha as there is not license policy in the state.