Bhubaneswar: 29th July: In another step forward towards Labour Welfare, Govt. has initiated steps for saving the Migrant Workers from exploitation and distress that is caused to them by greedy middlemen and so called employers in destination States. A High Level Meeting to this effect was held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Sri Aditya Prasad Padhi in Secretariat Conference Hall yesterday wherein Principal Secretary, Labour and Employees State Insurance Sri G. Srinivas presented the proposed Action Plan and outlined the issues for discussion.
Considering the issues, the meeting decided to work out a definite Action Plan with credit linkage support for the Migrant Workers following SHG Model. Chief Secretary, Sri Padhi advised the Labour & ESI Department to work out a SHG based Action Plan in convergence with Odisha Livelihood Mission for severely affected Migration Prone Districts in 1st phase. NABARD would also provide necessary Financial Assistance for formation and mobilization of the SHGs at ground level.
It was further decided that Labour & ESI Department would set up Help Desks at the destination States of Telengana, Talimilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, New Delhi etc. These Help Desks will be single point contact for all the Migrant Labourers and the Labour Department will coordinate with destination States to provide necessary assistance to the Odia workers.
Principal Secretary, Sri Srinivas appraised that Government of Odisha has entered into a MoU with Tata Trusts to examine the issue of migration and prepared an Action Plan for prevention of Distress Migration. The Labour & ESI Department has already initiated actions like registration of the potential Migrant Labours, identification alternative livelihood options, exploring the possibilities of credit linkage, linking them with various agricultural & horticultural schemes etc.
Available data show, the Districts like Bargarh, Bolangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi are prone to labour migration. As of now, around 32718 number of 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 designed for Migrant Workers. The Chief Secretary directed expedite the process so that the people could avail credit facility at the earliest.
Secretary, Panchayati Raj Department Sri Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Labour Commissioner, Sri Sachin Jadhav, Chief General Manager, SBI Sri BVG Reddy, General Manager, NABARD along with Senior Officers from Labour & ESI, Odisha Livelihood Mission, Tata Panchayati Raj , Tata Trust and Banks participated in deliberations.
