Migrant workers to be registered in 11 dists

Bhubaneswar: With an aim to ensure safety and welfare of migrant labourers of Odisha, the state Panchayati Raj department directed collectors of 11 districts on Wednesday to register workers at the gram panchayat level without fail.

In a letter, the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the department asked the collectors to entrust the job of registration of the migrant workers to village-level workers (VLWs) and gram rozgar sevaks (GRSs).

At the gram panchayat level, the VLWs or GRSs, as decided by the collectors, should open and maintain a register in a format prescribed by Labour and ESI departments for keeping details of the migrant workers and their families, the letter added.

Whether the families of those labourers were covered under MGNREGS in their native villages should be mentioned in the registrar, it said.

During the registration, details like if the migrant workers are moving outside their villages alone or with their families must be stated. This will help the state government in taking all possible measures for the safety and welfare of the migrant labourers and rescue them when situation warrants, the letter explained.

The letter has been sent to the district collectors of Bolangir, Bargarh, Subarnapur, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Khurda.

Notably, the state government had decided last month to hold special camps in different districts to register labourers migrating to other states.