Kalahandi is now famous for its high quality rice says Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Pushpendra Singh Deo

20 lakh migrants earn 3,000 cr a year
Expressbuzz, July 21, 2009

BHUBANESWAR: An independent study says migrant labourers from Orissa earn close to Rs 3,000 crore every year but there is no smooth remittance of their hard-earned money to their dependents in the State.

An assessment by Prabasi Odiya Surakhya Manch says that at any given point of time, at least 20 lakh people are working outside the State, mostly in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Kerala.

Orissa’s position in terms of the number of migrant labour stands at three, next to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While the number of migrants to AP is about two lakh, Gujarat alone attracts about 10 lakh. Other states draw out more than eight lakh migrant labourers. Eighty per cent of these labourers migrate on their own without any valid registration.

The study says that about Rs 2,000 crore is earned by labourers working in Gujarat while the share of Surat-based labourers is Rs 1,000 crore annually. The analysis says that at least 4.5 lakh workers are employed throughout the year at an average monthly wage of Rs 4,000.

They remit about half to their kin back in the State.

However, difficult remittance processes like opening of acccounts in banks, post offices, high charges on alternate methods, delay in transfer and disbursement and corruption take their toll on the actual economic benefit that could accrue to the State through contribution of these labourers.

According to Minister of State for Labour and Employment Pushpendra Singh Deo, only about 1.18 lakh migrant labourers are registered with the State which explains why the rest face difficulty at their places of work.

He also cited the example of Kalahandi which was once notorious for child sale and said the district is now famous for its high quality rice. It is because of these workers that the district has been able to redeem itself, he said addressing a convention of the migrant workers here today.

Singhdeo felt that sensitisation of the migrant labourers about welfare schemes of the Government would go a long way in controlling labour trafficking as well as their exploitation.