The Citizens’ Action Group (CAG) on Corona here has called for constitution of a taskforce to help the migrant workers in view of the second phase of lockdown in the country.
The forum is a collective of eminent citizens, civil society organisations and public advocacy groups in Odisha seeking to help in the fight against the pandemic.
“We urge the Prime Minister not lose time and set up a national task force, which could oversee inter-State coordination, monitoring and resolution of issues relating to migrant workers,” said CAG co-convenor Umi Daniel.
According to news reports, there are more than 2.4 million migrant workers who are currently stranded in some 50,000 camps scattered across the country. Most of them were looking to return home with the hope that the lockdown would end Monday. But now with lockdown getting extended by a fortnight, we are not sure how impatience and anxiety will shape the behavior of the stranded workers, said Daniel, an expert on migration.
According to the CAG, the proposed national taskforce should ideally be set up in the Prime Minister’s Office with representations from key Central Ministries such as Labour, Home Affairs, Railways, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs and Health and Family Welfare and the States most affected by the issues.
The taskforce should hold periodic reviews and provide necessary guidelines on handling issues relating to migrant workers. It should advise the labour sending and recipient States to exchange information about the stranded workers and coordinate their smooth movement.
The suggestions of the forum for the Odisha Government are constitution of a special State-level taskforce for coordinating and reaching out to migrant workers both in and outside Odisha; identification of migrant workers living in distress in urban slums, mining clusters and other Government and corporate projects and provision of food, supplies and medical support; consideration of a special employment generation programme for migrant workers in urban areas; immediate release Rs 1,500 to workers registered with the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board; setting up panchayat-level information centers, registration of migrant returnees and linking them up with effective quarantine; designing a special social and economic package for migrant returnees and particularly families undergoing self-quarantine; district-level helplines to educate on quarantine procedures, mental health support and access to Government support; payment of MGNREGA wage in advance to those in quarantine, long-term livelihood and employment support, legal and other support that may be needed for migrants who have been duped in such times of distress and mechanism involving the State Legal Service Authorities, Department of Labour and civil society groups to register complaints.