Nuapada: Even as labour migration continued unabated in many parts of western Odisha with reports of migrants dying and many remaining untraceable coming in, the administration has no clue about what has happened to those going outside in search of jobs. In most cases, middlemen who take them outside do not report about the condition of labourers, it was alleged.
According to reports, the administration and the labour department do not keep records of people going outside. The crux of the problem lies in the system, social activists said.
It was learnt that over last ten years, six migrant labourers, who had gone outside the state, have not returned as yet in Nuapada. Their families have urged the district administration to trace their kin. As labour migration problem is acute in Nuapada, local people and people’s representatives under the banner of Garibasena staged protests Thursday here. They have submitted a memorandum to the Collector.
They have pointed out that thousands of labourers go outside without registration of their names in their district, but most of them end up being exploited. In some cases, they die either out of torture or due to lack of treatment. Their deaths go unreported.
Social activists working in Nuapada said labour migration has been the fallout of a lack of job opportunities in their localities, even though the government has made provision of MGNREGS. They pointed out that migrant labourers were forced to work in hazardous condition in brick kilns or hotels in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. For the last 10 years, families of 10 migrant labourers have no information about them –if they are alive or dead. They have been urging the administration to find them, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
The missing labourers are Brijlala Bag of Thikapalli under Komna block, Kodo Majhi of Michhpalli, Narottam Biswal of Komna Poin, Khira Sagar Majhi of Birsinghpada, Bagatram Majhi of Darlipada-Jambahali,and Pitambar Majhi of Gadabhatta.
Another migrant Digbal Ada of Baghoti village in Jatagada panchayat has died after coming under the tractor in Hyderabad. The bereaved family is still living in miseries. Locals have demanded government assistance for the family.
They have demanded that the district administration take effective steps to trace out the migrant labourers who have been missing in the district or have died in accidents over last 10 years. They have demanded steps to check labour migration along with effective execution of MGNREGS projects.
PNN
