Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, to check the menace of labor –migration in the state, announced upgrade plans on Wednesday. The package contains a significant wage hike, expanded work-days, and financial assistance, besides a Rs 500 crore corpus fund for timely wage payment.
The plan, to begin with, will be active in four migration prone districts, namely Bargarh, Bolangir, and Kalahandi. Twenty blocks in these four districts will be under this plan cover.
CM Pattnaik announced the plan in Bhubaneswar while inaugurating e-Shramik Smadhan, a 24×7 helpline to address the grievances of Odia laborers working outside Odisha.
The Chief Minister announced 200 days of employment under MNREGA against the prevailing 100 days. The minimum daily wage under the scheme will be Rs 286. It is Rs 188 now.
Mr. Pattnaik also said that a Corpus fund of Rs 500 crore would come to ensure timely and uninterrupted payment to the laborers.
Plan to check distress Migration
- Corpus Fund Rs 500 crore
- Workdays under MNREGA 200
- Minimum Daily wage-Rs 286
- 24×7 help line
- e-Shramik Samadhan
All the panchayats of the qualified 20 blocks will be looked after as intensive gram panchayat under Odisha Livelihood Mission, said Mr. Pattnaik. And he added that every household would find a place in SHGs. The SHGs will get financial assistance through the Community Investment Fund (CIF), and Vulnerability Reduction Fund (VRF). Selected SHGs will get the opportunity of working as bank correspondents so that they could facilitate banking services to the people.
The Chief Minister further said that members of the SHGs would avail insurance cover; eligible households would get a pucca house, besides a member of every household would get cover under placement linked skill development program. The government will launch a drive to register the eligible construction workers in the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board so that they could avail benefits under the government’s social security schemes.
e-Sharmik Smadhan is a digital initiative of the Government of Odisha, meant to register grievances of migrant laborers online and through the helpline. A laborer can dial 155368 inside Odisha, and 18002456703 outside Odisha to register their grievances. At present, there are help- desks in Andhra, Telangana, and Delhi for the migrant Odia laborers. Such helpdesks in Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Gujurat are under consideration.
The Chief Minister said that the initiatives will go a long way to contribute to the wellbeing of the migrant workers, and mitigating distress migration.
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