BHUBANESWAR: More than 5,000 labourers of Odisha, both skilled and semi-skilled, have migrated to different countries in search of employment within the last one year.
This was informed by Labour Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia in the state Assembly in a written reply to a query by BJP MLA Laxman Bag on Tuesday. He said the highest number of them have travelled to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman to engage in various sectors.
“Between April 1, 2024 and March 4 this year, 5,431 labourers from all across the 30 districts have gone to 11 countries for work. Ganjam has reported the majority of 1,579 such workers followed by Khurda (1,183) and Kendrapara (713) districts. While 2,385 workers have migrated to UAE, 1,193 are in Saudi Arabia. Likewise, 800 workers are working in Qatar and 438 in Oman,” the minister said.
The data pertains to labourers who have migrated abroad through the registered agents after registering through the eMigrate portal. The minister said all workers are encouraged to go through registered agents if they are going to one of the immigration-check required countries.
Sources said while labourers from Kendrapara are primarily engaged in plumbing jobs, the other sector that employs maximum number of labourers abroad is construction as demand for skilled workers in the construction sector in high abroad.
Amid reports of exploitation faced by them at the hands of their employers in other countries, the state government is contemplating to create a database of such workers.