HYDERABAD: As cyclone Fani battered parts of Odisha, thousands of migrant labourers from the State working in brick kilns of Telangana were panicking on whether the natural calamity would impact their livelihood back home. Though majority of labourers are from the districts of Nuapada, Balangir and Baragarah of western Odisha, where the cyclone had only a little impact, it could impact the way they take up work in the upcoming brick manufacture season.
According to experts, migrants view Telangana and other areas as more riskier when compared to brick kiln in Odisha. However, since the pay is better in other states, they are forced to opt this way. But, with the cyclone hitting Bhubaneswar, another brick kiln hotspot, the labourers would supposedly have to reconsider where they are heading to.
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“There are several brick kilns in Bhubaneswar as well. However they pay much less and may not be as functional as those in Telangana. Hence, people prefer other states for the money, which is given in advance and in bulk. The cyclone may pressure more people to migrate to places like Telangana. But we cant predict the trends,” noted Bikshapathi, a Hyderabad Aide et Action official.
In Bhubaneshwar, for 1000 bricks a labourer is paid Rs 250, whereas in Telangana it becomes Rs 350-400.
However it is too soon to predict the trends that are to follow. “We can’t tell anything at this point. Though cyclones are usual in that part, this was a super cyclone. They may go back to their native district and weigh the odds of working in Odisha where they are familiar with language or migrate to Telangana and other places, where the risks of such cyclones and natural calamity are less,” said Bhubaneswar Aide et Action program coordinator Saroj Kumar Barik. It is also believed that the cyclone may impact the pay in Odisha, possibly increasing the migration to Telangana.
“Most labourers have small pockets of land in their home districts which are viable for farming only for 6 months in a year, from June to December. In this phase, after tilling their land, they also work in other farms to eke a living or migrate to the urban areas in Odisha,” said Sideshwar Chandan, an Odiya teacher for children of migrant labourers in Yadadri. If business in these urban pockets are impacted, they may return to Telangana as labourers for textile or cotton industries during the off months, noted experts.
Whatever be the fate of migration, Telangana has worksite schools for migrant children only in 3 districts around Hyderabad in Rachakonda, Yadadri and Medchal where as many as 730 students are studying.
Apart from these, there are no schools to support the education of such children. Karimnagar has a school, however it may not continue to run for long due to nonpayment of dues from the Sate government.