51 migrant labourers rescued in Balangir

Balangir: In a joint raid on Saturday night, the District Labour officials and the Town Police rescued 51 migrant labourers from three buses while they were taken to the neighbouring states.

Acting on a tip-off, the officials of the a joint team of officials of the District Labour Office and the Town Police raided a Berhampur bound government bus from Padmapur and rescued 16 migrant labourers of Bhalujuri village. The rescued labourers were later sent to their native village.

Besides, the team also rescued 22 migrant labourers from a government bus and 13 labourers from a private bus at Rampur near Patnagarh.

Efforts are on to send the remaining labourers to their respective villages, said Patnagarh IIC, Nirmal Kumar Mohapatra. He said efforts are on to trace out the broker who was taking these labourers illegally to work as migrant labourers.

Informing the media, District Labour Officer Madan Mohan Paika said as per rules, a person willing to work as migrant labourer, must register his/her name at their panchayat. But these villagers have been lured by the brokers who take them outside the district or the state to work as migrant labourers.

“We have requested these villagers to get their name registered at their respective panchayat office after which they would be allowed to go out of their district to work elsewhere as migrant labourers”, Paika said.

When asked about the motive of leaving their village, a rescued labourers said as the government has not made any arrangement for work, he is forced to leave his village in search of work. Apart from this, severe drought in the district this year is another reason of leaving his native place in search work to run his family, he added.