Bhubaneswar: Odisha government is working to ensure that no person is compelled to migrate out of the state in order to eke out a living after 2029, Law Minister Pritithiviraj Harichandan said Friday.
Odisha will achieve self-reliance in employment and development, ensuring opportunities for people within the state, he said, replying to a debate in the Assembly.
“We have been working in a strategic manner to end forced migration of workers by 2029 as promised,” he said.
Harichandan said after coming to power in June 2024, the BJP government constituted a task force on migration under the chairmanship of Deputy CM KV Singh Deo.
“The task force has made certain recommendations based on which schemes and strategies have been made to provide employment to the workers within the state. The task force has held three meetings during the period,” he said.
Over 400 migrant workers from Odisha have died outside the state in the last 10 years, Labour Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia had informed the assembly December 3.
Rejecting the opposition BJD and Congress’s allegation that the BJP government has failed to provide jobs to the youths and check migration from the state, Harichandan said, “The Odisha government, within 18 months, has provided as many as 37,371 government jobs and nearly 48,000 employments in the private sector.”
“If the BJP government can provide government jobs to the youths, why the previous government could not? There was no shortage of revenue in the state. The BJD government lacked the mindset to give jobs to youths,” he said, adding that the process is on for the recruitment of 65,000 more persons.
He also criticised the previous BJD government, alleging that it was allowing corruption and malpractice in recruitment processes.
“While the previous government attempted to cover up job scandals instead of taking strict action, the present government has handed over an irregularity incident to CBI for probe,” he said, adding that the BJP government has “zero tolerance” towards corruption.
Congress MLA Ashok Das alleged that scores of people from different parts of Odisha are forced to migrate out of the state after being unable to get employment opportunities in Bhubaneswar.
“Where is the BJP’s election promise of providing 100 government jobs to each gram panchayat in the state? Where is PM Narendra Modi’s promise of 2 crore jobs every year?” he asked.
Congress MLA Sofia Firdous said even engineering graduates are now making a beeline to serve as home guards.
“This is really shocking to see highly educated youths opting for any job for survival,” she said.
Senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain said the state government is unable to undertake developmental activities because of the lack of staff.
“The state’s budget spending till October is only 39 per cent. This speaks to how the developmental works are being hampered due to a shortage of staff,” he said.
He also expressed concern over the irregularities taking place in different recruitment processes.
“Today also, the ANM examination was cancelled due to a question paper leak,” he said.
Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik alleged that the government has been misleading people by giving false assurances to provide employment.
PTI