BHUBANESWAR: Only one in every five migrant workers of Odisha planning to return home has enough resources and savings to help manage expenses post lockdown, reveals a study.
The report ‘Road to Resilience’ carried out by Gram Vikash in partnership with Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) to study post-lockdown coping strategies of migrant workers and labourers from the State, also stated that an average monthly income of Rs 10,000 will prevent most of these workers and labourers from migrating to other cities in search of job.
Workers who desired to come back to their native places were also enquired about their plans to manage expenses once remittances given to them is stopped after the lockdown.
At least 21.6 per cent migrant labourers revealed they have plans to return and stay back and said they have resources and savings to manage, whereas 12.3 per cent said they would look for government support.
The study found that around 30 per cent migrant workers have decided to return to the places they had come from within three months of lockdown, while 10 per cent will return within three to six months.
A third did not respond, while about 18 per cent were clueless as to what they would do.
About 11.3 pc migrant workers covered under the study said that they will manage to find work in village; 10.6 per cent said they will depend on agriculture, 6.6 per cent said they will seek support from family and friends for their expenses. Another 6 per cent said that they will find out other ways.
Around 17.3 per cent had no clue as to how they will manage their expenses, the report stated. As per the report a little over half the labourers surveyed stated that an income of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month is enough for them to stay back, while others sought an income in the range of Rs 10,000 to 15,000 for the same.
Around 5 per cent of them stated that they expect a monthly income of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 to stay back.
“A monthly average income of Rs 10,000 would prevent workers from migrating to the cities,” the study said. The study was conducted in 13 community development blocks across Ganjam, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nayagarh with a sample size of 572 of which 392 responded.