BHUBANESWAR: Even as migrant workers from Surat have started arriving in Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday took up the issue of stranded Odia people in Tamil Nadu with his counterpart EK Palaniswami and discussed about their return to the State.
In a video conference meeting with Palaniswami, Naveen requested him to ensure that the stranded people from Odisha return in a smooth manner.
He thanked him for taking care of Odia people stranded in Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister’s Office said Palaniswami assured Naveen to extend all cooperation for the return of the stranded people from Odisha. Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan also participated in the meeting.
Meanwhile, opposition political parties have criticised the State Government’s policy vis-a-vis the migrant workers and demanded that livelihood opportunities should be created to engage them after they return to the State. Former union minister Srikant Jena said textile mills and plastics units should be set up to engage the migrant returnees. He said as most of the migrants returning from Surat were working in textile sector, employment opportunities should be created to engage them here after their return.
Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra also demanded that the Government should plan to ensure livelihood of the migrant returnees. During 2018-19, 1.21 lakh people were provided with 100 days of work while only 47,000 people got employment during 2019-20. “The issue is likely to create a burden for Odisha and there should be proper planning to tackle the situation,” he said.
However, Minister for Commerce and Transport Padmanabha Behera said there would be absolutely no problem in providing necessary livelihood support to stranded migrants from other states returning to Odisha. Stating people from other states including students are coming to Odisha on their own arrangements, the Minister asserted that there would be no problems in accommodating them as efforts are on to come up with additional quarantine centres. He said schools, panchayat offices and other utilities will be converted into quarantine centres.