BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Friday decided to formulate a definite action plan with credit linkage support to deal with migration of labourers from Odisha. A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the Secretariat here.
The proposed action plan would have credit linkage support for the migrant workers following self-help group (SHG) model.
Padhi asked the Labour and ESI department to work out an SHG-based action plan in convergence with Odisha Livelihoods Mission for severely affected migration prone districts in the first phase. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) would also provide necessary financial assistance for formation and mobilisation of SHGs at ground level, he said.
The meeting also resolved that the Labour and ESI Department would set up help desks at the destination states of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, New Delhi and others where Odia workers migrate.
“These help desks will be single point contact for all the migrant labourers and the Labour department will coordinate with destination states to provide necessary assistance to Odia workers,” Secretary in the Labour and ESI department G Srinivas said.
Srinivas said, the State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Trusts to examine the issue of migration and prepare an action plan for prevention of distress migration.
As districts like Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada and Kalahandi are prone to labour migration, around 32,718 SHGs have been formed in these districts with a total membership of 3,66,253. It was decided to map the credibility of these SHGs and form new SHGs as per requirement for carrying forward the action plan designed for migrant workers, Srinivas said.