BHAWANIPATNA: Seasonal migration from Kalahandi has once raised its ugly head with thousands of workers heading out of the district in search of employment.
Many workers who returned for Nuakhai and Dussehra have now left for their workplaces after the festivals with only a few staying back for the harvest season. After harvest of early variety of paddy and first phase of cotton plucking, migration has picked up pace again. It will take full form after completion of paddy and cotton harvest.
The state government had identified Golamunda, Bhawanipatna, Lanjigarh, Thuamul Rampur and Madanpur Rampur blocks as ‘migration-prone blocks’, sanctioning 300 days of work per year under MGNREGS to curb distress migration. However, this provision is not put to use and reduced to the usual 100 days, fuelling apprehension of outward migration from these areas.
In Golamunda block alone, villages such as Manjhari, Nakatikani, Udesrang, Bandita, Rengamapari, Dhamanpur, Khaliapali, Tapania, Nuagaon, Uchla and Gandamer are witnessing heavy migration. Block chairman Bindu Mahananda claimed that around 20,000 people may have already moved out this season, mainly to Surat, Rajkot, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. “People migrate because they earn more and get regular work which is not available here,” he said.
Crowded buses to these places are a regular sight now. Three buses to Hyderabad, four to Raipur, and one each to Vijayawada and Guntur ply through Golamunda. These passenger carriers are locally known as ‘dadan buses’ because they carry migrant labourers.
Kalahandi remains one of Odisha’s most migration-prone districts but the administration’s surveillance remains far from desirable. Of the 10 registered labour contractors in the district, only three have renewed their licenses this year. Taken together, the three have recorded 2,000 migrant workers. Most workers are enlisted by unregistered middlemen who fly under the radar of the local authorities.
The migration tracking mechanism is weak. Non-official estimates suggest that the number may be around 60,000 as against 45,000 workers enumerated during the Covid pandemic.
The acute shortage of manpower in the Labour department has not helped. The post of deputy labour commissioner has been vacant for long while 10 out of the 14 assistant labour officer posts are yet to be fiolled.
District labour officer Ranjita Naik admitted that migrant workers are reluctant to report their destination or employer. “Despite inadequate staff, we are taking support from block administrations and voluntary organisations to create awareness and take action when exploitation cases are reported,” she said.