The distress migration of adolescents and youths from western Odisha and from tribal areas is increasing and the Government should take pro active steps to check the trend, besides ensuring safety of migrant women at brick kiln sites as they are the most vulnerable, demanded activists here.
The speakers expressed concern on the rising trend of migration of youths from western Odisha and tribal areas at a meeting on issues of migration organised by the Western Odisha Migration Network (WOMN) at Balangir recently.
“We carried out a survey in 17 villages in three gram panchayats in Junagarh block of Kalhandi district and found a rise of 24 per cent in migration of adolescent and youths from the area and what is more disturbing is their destination was not known to their parents,” said Ashok Pattnaik of Kartavya, an NGO working in Kalhandi district.
Due to drought situation, distress migration is increasing from Nuapada district, pointed out D Singh Babu.
Adolescent and youth migration although is rising, it has not received due attention from the Government.
Urgent steps should be taken to check the distress migration of people in the age groups, said senior advocate Gourishyam Panda of Subarnapur.
The implementation of the Inter State Migrant Works man Act of 1979 in Subarnapur district is poor and no seasonal hostel has been opened in the district, Panda opined.
The unregulated distress migration of adolescent and youths from western Odisha and from tribal areas is really a cause of concern and the Government should take steps to streamline the process of migration and ensure the safety and dignity of women migrant workers as they are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse, pointed out Umi Daniel, an expert on migration issue.
The meet was attended by members of organisations and NGOs working on migration issues from Balangir, Subarnapur, Bargarh, Kalhandi, Nuapada and other districts of western Odisha.