BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday informed the Assembly that 40,088 labourers from Odisha have migrated to other states in search of jobs. In a written reply to a question from Taraprasad Bahinipati (Cong), Labour Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak said that the migration was facilitated by 626 licensed contractors. The contractors were provided licence under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, till October this year, he stated.
The highest 26,151 labourers had migrated from Balangir district followed by 8,205 from Nuapada district, the minister said, adding that 1,467 people from Ganjam have left the state looking for work. However, Angul, Bhadrak, Boudh, Deograh, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Malkangiri, Sonepur and Sundargarh districts have reported no instance of migration, he said.
Stating that the government had initiated various measures to check migration, the minister said the focus is on providing employment to the migrant labourers. While 300 days of work is being provided under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in some pockets of the state, a special package has been launched for labourers in 20 migration-prone blocks of Balangir, Bargarh, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts.