Over 40,000 migrant labourers from Odisha working outside state, 153 died in last 3 years: Minister

Amid reports of the continued plight of Odia migrant labourers working outside the state, their number has been put at 40,880 while 153 migrant workers have died in other states and countries in the last three years.
 
The official data in this regard was tabled by Labour Minister Sarada Nayak in the Odisha Assembly on Thursday.

While replying to a question from Congress legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati in the Assembly, Labour Minister Sarada Nayak put forth the official data about migrant labourers, saying that 40,880 labourers from the state have gone outside in search of jobs.

He also stated that all the migrant labourers, most of them from Bolangir, been taken through 626 licensed contractors.

“Bolangir alone accounts for 26,152 migrant labourers while 8,205 people from Nuapada have migrated to different states,” Nayak said.

MLA Prashant Behera also sought to know how many migrant labourers from Odisha died in other states and abroad and how many bodies have been brought back home in the last three years.

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In reply to Behera’s question, the Labour Minister stated that 143 Odia migrant labourers have died in other states and 10 in abroad in the last three years. The bodies of all the 153 have been brought back, Nayak added. 

According to Nayak, Kalahandi has the highest number of migrant labourers who have died outside the state. “As many as 29 labourers from Kalahandi and 13 each from Boudh and Bolangir districts have died in other states,” he informed.

Seven each from Nayagarh, Subarnapur and Malkangiri, five each from Konkjhar and Sundargarh, nine from Kandhamal and six from Chhatrapur are among the deceased migrant labourers, the minister added.