The BJP-led Odisha government has made its first move to arrest distress migration. Works minister Prithiviraj Harichandan stated on record that Odisha’s unskilled and semi-skilled workers will be given first preference in government projects, with his own department setting an example. It’s ironic that while Odisha witnesses a large outgo of workers to Gujarat, Maharashtra and all southern states in search of livelihood, its own construction sector is dominated by workers from West Bengal and Bihar. Since a major poll plank of the saffron party was the earlier BJD regime’s inability to tackle the migration crisis, one can understand where the idea is coming from.
But the move presents a narrow view of an enormous issue. Giving first preference to Odia workers might sound rhetorically appealing, but is somewhat similar to what the Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh governments attempted with job reservations for locals. To substantively deal with the issue, the government must first make a realistic assessment of the situation. No plan can succeed without good data. At present, there are only sketchy reports on migration numbers. The total of 10 lakh totted up during the pandemic-triggered reverse migration is too small and too narrowly counted. The promise to map the skills of the returnees did not materialise well.
The problem must be addressed from two angles—jobs and skills. To reduce or reverse migration, the state government must analyse why Odisha saw one of the largest drops in man-days under MGNREGA during this April-September period. Availability of work round the year, timely payment of wages and social security in other states would be among the answers. The industrialisation push of the Mohan Majhi government is welcome, but the focus should be on labour-intensive sectors. It should be complemented with training a skilled workforce in the state so that industries do not have to get workers from outside. Skilling and up-skilling of the labour force that tends to move out every season is an urgent need; those who migrate to do manual labour should be brought into the skills net. A regional approach will not help in the long run. Promoting labour-intensive industries while up-skilling the workforce would be a more lasting solution to the migration problem.