http://www.dailypioneer.com/347930/Migrant-labourers-Waiting-to-go-home-the-nowhere-people!.html
Migrant labourers: Waiting to go home, the nowhere people!
June 23, 2011 10:43:09 PM
SUDARSHAN CHHOTRAY
If the recent Arab uprisings are any indication, especially the unrest in Libya, it could affect India in more than one way. The political turmoils in those countries have thrown many Indian migrant labourers out of work. Finally, thousands of labourers landed in New Delhi in the last week of April. Many searched for jobs, but they were duped by oversea placement agencies operating in Delhi.
This way, 127 labouerers from Odisha and other States paid `80,000 to `1,20,000 each to an agent for working visas and air tickets. When they reached the Delhi airport on May 3 for their promised flight to London, they found their tickets cancelled. They registered complaints at Kirti Nagar police station. Following intervention by some volunteers, the Delhi Police’s anti-human trafficking cell arrested the agent, Jatindra Singh. Finally, the plumbers from Odisha returned to their homeland with the help of a labour officer deputed from the State.
Now, the future of the 12 plumbers from Odisha’s Kendrapada district hangs in balance. They face double whammy as whatever amounts they earned during their work in Tripoli (Libya) had been paid to the agent. They are in the dark whether they would get back their money and whether the State authorities are taking any steps to bail them out.
This incident proves that migration of workers goes unchecked. The protection and enforcement clauses and provisions in The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (RE&CS) Act 1979 are not sufficient. Even the deputed labour officer Pradeep Mohanty admitted, “We could not do anything in this case because neither the migrants nor the contractor registered themselves here or provided any information to the department.”
There a need to amend the Act, says Md Amin of Sramik Sahayog. “Thousands of Odisha migrants have been rescued from brick kilns in AP and Tamil Nadu recently. Even women are not spared; they are duped by pimps and dalals and taken to Delhi, Jhansi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala either with marriage or job assurances,” he points out.
Of late, the State Government has decided to set up a Special Labour Cell to monitor inter-State migration and keep a tab on agents involved in practices violating the labour laws and sending people to various places without registering them with the authorities. An Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC) would head the cell by. A centralised database would be created with records of migrants and contractors with monthly review and follow-up.
“A special cell is definitely a step forward, but what about the already existing migration cell in the Labour Commissioner’s office and the ALC posted in Balugaon to register, monitor and take up the day-to-day issues related to migrants,” questions Anam Barik of Pravasi Odia Sramik Suraksha Manch (POSSM). “Yes, there is need to have a migration cell, but it should be equipped with adequate staff, updated database and monitoring mechanism besides enforcing power. Earlier, the Government had deployed two senior labour officers to Surat and Mumbai regions, but subsequently they were withdrawn. Mere tabbing contractors will not serve the purpose. A major issue is registration of all outbound labourers at the place of origin apart from registration at the destination points. Issue of identity cards is also significant,” he observes.
Recently, State Labour Commissioner Alekh Chandra Padhiary admitted that 1.8 million people are migrating annually from the State, and out of them only 50,000 are registered. Due to non-availability of data, it is practically difficult to ensure labour rights and compensation to them on account of sickness and even death.
POSSM, has, however, estimated that there are over 2 million people working outside the State — nearly seven lakh in Surat, three lakh in Gandhidham, Kandla, Bharuch, Olanga and other places in Gujarat, two lakh in Mumbai and Pune, five lakh in Kerala, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and three lakh in other places like Kolkata, Delhi, J&K, MP, UP, Haryana and Punjab. Besides, five to seven lakh seasonal migrants are shuttling between Odisha and other destinations every year.
Almost 75 per cent of Odia workers in Surat are not registered and without basic rights like minimum wage, PF, gratuity, bonus, pension and holidays. They are not even issued identity cards. They live in organised slums. Due to unavailability of Odia schools, their children leave education for work. A few schools established by the Odia Samaj lack buildings, teachers and textbooks. Health is another area of concern. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases affect the youth because of loneliness and unsafe sex.
Another important aspect of the migration issue is the remittance of money. The State gets around `3,000 crore per annum as the remittance from migrant workers, but remittance of this hard-earned money to the dependent family members is not smooth. Out of the `3,000 crore, nearly `1,000 crore comes from Gujarat while another `1,000 crore from Surat alone. `100 crore comes from Andhra Pradesh. The remaining amount comes from other parts of the country and abroad. Even though the workers send money regularly, they still use the method of Toppawalla, peer network and general money order as the system to send it.
Most of the Odia migrants in Surat are from Ganjam. Though Ganjam is one of the developed districts of the State, shrinking natural resources, decreasing cultivable land, regular floods and drought have left the district with increasing labour forces migrating outside the State. Ganjam, Balangir, Sundargarh, Nuapada and Koraput are the districts where migration is rampant.
Similar is the condition of Odia migrants in south India. People from western Odisha, particularly Balangir, travel to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru during early summer to work in brick kilns. They are subjected to severe exploitations; even women are not spared by contractors and brick kiln owners. According to Banshidhar Behera of the Western Odisha Voluntary Association (WOVA), “On an average, 4 lakh people migrate annually from the poverty-stricken KBK region. Just before Nuakhai, the mass festival of the region, contractors from southern States camp here to pay advance money to labourers and take them away. Tribal and labour households and villages wear deserted looks during this period. Reports from the field suggest the migration economy of western Odisha is worth around `80 crore, the amount transacted by the migrants.
Despite a plethora of programmes like the RLTAP, Biju KBK Yojana, WORLP, OTLP and WODC besides special attention by the Planning Commission and other State and Central agencies and especially provisions in the NRHM and MNREGS, the Governments has failed to ensure livelihoods of KBK people. We have been witnessing the phenomena of drought, crop failure and land alienation. The Planning Commission has finalised an outlay of `4,550 crore to expedite development of the KBK districts through an Eight-Year Perspective Plan covering 2009-10 to 2016-17.
Migration is not a recent phenomenon. People migrate from one region to another region or city in search of work. According to a latest international estimate, more than 50 million people migrate from one place to another. In India, a rough estimate puts the number at 8 million. But due to lack of attention and absence of policy guidelines on their wellbeing, they have been isolated as a community and sometimes socially ostracised. Though a dozen odd laws are there; no State Government is ready to recognise and provide identity to them. Even the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, which is supposed to protect the exploitation of labourers and rescue them when need arises has proved nonfunctional.
Considering the plight of the Odia migrants, all it needs is the State Government’s intervention to at least provide safety to the people in ensuring their basic needs and human rights privileges in cooperation with the concerned State Governments.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/347930/Migrant-labourers-Waiting-to-go-home-the-nowhere-people!.html
Migrant labourers: Waiting to go home, the nowhere people!
June 23, 2011 10:43:09 PM
SUDARSHAN CHHOTRAY
If the recent Arab uprisings are any indication, especially the unrest in Libya, it could affect India in more than one way. The political turmoils in those countries have thrown many Indian migrant labourers out of work. Finally, thousands of labourers landed in New Delhi in the last week of April. Many searched for jobs, but they were duped by oversea placement agencies operating in Delhi.
This way, 127 labouerers from Odisha and other States paid `80,000 to `1,20,000 each to an agent for working visas and air tickets. When they reached the Delhi airport on May 3 for their promised flight to London, they found their tickets cancelled. They registered complaints at Kirti Nagar police station. Following intervention by some volunteers, the Delhi Police’s anti-human trafficking cell arrested the agent, Jatindra Singh. Finally, the plumbers from Odisha returned to their homeland with the help of a labour officer deputed from the State.
Now, the future of the 12 plumbers from Odisha’s Kendrapada district hangs in balance. They face double whammy as whatever amounts they earned during their work in Tripoli (Libya) had been paid to the agent. They are in the dark whether they would get back their money and whether the State authorities are taking any steps to bail them out.
This incident proves that migration of workers goes unchecked. The protection and enforcement clauses and provisions in The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (RE&CS) Act 1979 are not sufficient. Even the deputed labour officer Pradeep Mohanty admitted, “We could not do anything in this case because neither the migrants nor the contractor registered themselves here or provided any information to the department.”
There a need to amend the Act, says Md Amin of Sramik Sahayog. “Thousands of Odisha migrants have been rescued from brick kilns in AP and Tamil Nadu recently. Even women are not spared; they are duped by pimps and dalals and taken to Delhi, Jhansi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala either with marriage or job assurances,” he points out.
Of late, the State Government has decided to set up a Special Labour Cell to monitor inter-State migration and keep a tab on agents involved in practices violating the labour laws and sending people to various places without registering them with the authorities. An Assistant Labour Commissioner (ALC) would head the cell by. A centralised database would be created with records of migrants and contractors with monthly review and follow-up.
“A special cell is definitely a step forward, but what about the already existing migration cell in the Labour Commissioner’s office and the ALC posted in Balugaon to register, monitor and take up the day-to-day issues related to migrants,” questions Anam Barik of Pravasi Odia Sramik Suraksha Manch (POSSM). “Yes, there is need to have a migration cell, but it should be equipped with adequate staff, updated database and monitoring mechanism besides enforcing power. Earlier, the Government had deployed two senior labour officers to Surat and Mumbai regions, but subsequently they were withdrawn. Mere tabbing contractors will not serve the purpose. A major issue is registration of all outbound labourers at the place of origin apart from registration at the destination points. Issue of identity cards is also significant,” he observes.
Recently, State Labour Commissioner Alekh Chandra Padhiary admitted that 1.8 million people are migrating annually from the State, and out of them only 50,000 are registered. Due to non-availability of data, it is practically difficult to ensure labour rights and compensation to them on account of sickness and even death.
POSSM, has, however, estimated that there are over 2 million people working outside the State — nearly seven lakh in Surat, three lakh in Gandhidham, Kandla, Bharuch, Olanga and other places in Gujarat, two lakh in Mumbai and Pune, five lakh in Kerala, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and three lakh in other places like Kolkata, Delhi, J&K, MP, UP, Haryana and Punjab. Besides, five to seven lakh seasonal migrants are shuttling between Odisha and other destinations every year.
Almost 75 per cent of Odia workers in Surat are not registered and without basic rights like minimum wage, PF, gratuity, bonus, pension and holidays. They are not even issued identity cards. They live in organised slums. Due to unavailability of Odia schools, their children leave education for work. A few schools established by the Odia Samaj lack buildings, teachers and textbooks. Health is another area of concern. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases affect the youth because of loneliness and unsafe sex.
Another important aspect of the migration issue is the remittance of money. The State gets around `3,000 crore per annum as the remittance from migrant workers, but remittance of this hard-earned money to the dependent family members is not smooth. Out of the `3,000 crore, nearly `1,000 crore comes from Gujarat while another `1,000 crore from Surat alone. `100 crore comes from Andhra Pradesh. The remaining amount comes from other parts of the country and abroad. Even though the workers send money regularly, they still use the method of Toppawalla, peer network and general money order as the system to send it.
Most of the Odia migrants in Surat are from Ganjam. Though Ganjam is one of the developed districts of the State, shrinking natural resources, decreasing cultivable land, regular floods and drought have left the district with increasing labour forces migrating outside the State. Ganjam, Balangir, Sundargarh, Nuapada and Koraput are the districts where migration is rampant.
Similar is the condition of Odia migrants in south India. People from western Odisha, particularly Balangir, travel to Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru during early summer to work in brick kilns. They are subjected to severe exploitations; even women are not spared by contractors and brick kiln owners. According to Banshidhar Behera of the Western Odisha Voluntary Association (WOVA), “On an average, 4 lakh people migrate annually from the poverty-stricken KBK region. Just before Nuakhai, the mass festival of the region, contractors from southern States camp here to pay advance money to labourers and take them away. Tribal and labour households and villages wear deserted looks during this period. Reports from the field suggest the migration economy of western Odisha is worth around `80 crore, the amount transacted by the migrants.
Despite a plethora of programmes like the RLTAP, Biju KBK Yojana, WORLP, OTLP and WODC besides special attention by the Planning Commission and other State and Central agencies and especially provisions in the NRHM and MNREGS, the Governments has failed to ensure livelihoods of KBK people. We have been witnessing the phenomena of drought, crop failure and land alienation. The Planning Commission has finalised an outlay of `4,550 crore to expedite development of the KBK districts through an Eight-Year Perspective Plan covering 2009-10 to 2016-17.
Migration is not a recent phenomenon. People migrate from one region to another region or city in search of work. According to a latest international estimate, more than 50 million people migrate from one place to another. In India, a rough estimate puts the number at 8 million. But due to lack of attention and absence of policy guidelines on their wellbeing, they have been isolated as a community and sometimes socially ostracised. Though a dozen odd laws are there; no State Government is ready to recognise and provide identity to them. Even the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, which is supposed to protect the exploitation of labourers and rescue them when need arises has proved nonfunctional.
Considering the plight of the Odia migrants, all it needs is the State Government’s intervention to at least provide safety to the people in ensuring their basic needs and human rights privileges in cooperation with the concerned State Governments.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/347930/Migrant-labourers-Waiting-to-go-home-the-nowhere-people!.html
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