The State Government has initiated steps for saving migrant workers from exploitation by middlemen and employers in destination States. A high-level meeting to this effect was held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the State Secretariat on Friday.
labour and Employees’ State Insurance Secretary G Srinivas presented the proposed action plan. The meeting decided to work out a definite action plan with credit linkage support for the migrant workers following the SHG model. The Chief Secretary advised the labour & ESI Department to work out a SHG-based action plan in convergence with the Odisha livelihood Mission for severely-affected migration-prone districts in first phase. The Nabard would also provide necessary financial assistance for formation and mobilisation of SHGs at the ground level.
It was further decided that the labour & ESI Department would set up helpdesks at the destination States like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and New Delhi. The helpdesks would be single-point contact for all migrant labourers, and the labour Department would coordinate with the destination States to provide necessary assistance to the Odia workers.
Srinivas appraised that the Government has entered into an MoU with the Tata Trusts to examine the issue of migration and prepare an action plan for prevention of distress migration. The labour Department has already initiated actions like registration of the potential migrant workers, identification alternative livelihood options, exploring the possibilities of credit linkage and linking them with various agricultural and horticultural schemes. PNS
The districts of Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi are prone to labour migration. As of now, around 32,718 SHGs have been formed in these districts with a total membership of 3,66, 253. It was decided to map the credibility of these SHGs and form new SHGs as per requirement for carrying forward the action plan for migrant workers.
Panchayati Raj Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh, labour Commissioner Sachin Jadhav, SBI Chief General Manager BVG Reddy, the Nabard General Manager and Tata Trust representatives participated in the deliberations.