As a special train carrying 1,200 people pulled in at the Titlagarh Railway Station in Balangir district on Sunday, it raised hopes that other distressed migrant workers in poverty-stricken western Odisha would also return.
Thousands of migrant workers from the region — comprising of Balangir, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Subaranpur and Bargarh districts — which is infamous for its poverty and distress migration, are stranded in different parts of the country.
The arrival of the train from Mumbai to Titlagarh marked the first formal return of migrants from other States to the region. Workers from 21 of 30 different districts of Odisha got down at Titlagarh, from where about 50 buses took them in different directions after thermal screening at the station. However, these five districts are yet to receive their own native men and women.
Paltry wages
Every year, about 3 lakh people comprising women and children undertake migration to work in brick kilns and in the construction sector in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at paltry wages.
With little by way of financial reserves, these hapless people, mostly landless and marginal farmers, take wage advances through unscrupulous labour agents every year. Between October and December, they are trafficked to other States to repay the wage advance paid beforehand by the agents.
“These labourers migrate in semi-bonded conditions due to lack of sustainable livelihood options in their native soil. This is further compounded because of exploitative practices of moneylenders who take advantage of this situation and charge high rates of interest,” said Umi Daniel, a noted migration expert, who has been studying distress migration for the past two decades.
Although workers face physical and mental harassment in workplaces, they knowingly jump out of the frying pan into the fire, Mr. Daniel said, adding that the never-ending cycle of debt forces them to accept meagre advances before every annual migration.
‘Not able to reach’
“We have failed our own people. Neither people’s representatives nor government officials have vociferously raised the plight of people who have migrated from the region. The oppressed labour force cannot fight for its own survival. We are getting innumerable calls from these people, but they are not able to reach the special trains leaving for Odisha,” said Prashant Kumar Nayak, who heads Palli Alok Pathagar, a Balangir-based social organisation.
Sources said 93,860 migrant workers from Balangir district alone have registered with the government for return. In Titlagarh block, where the train reached, 7,563 persons are stranded outside.
Mr. Nayak said that since families migrate to other States as labour units, they are more vulnerable than other workers. “The government must prepare a list prioritising the vulnerability of the stranded people. Distressed and voiceless migrant workers from western Odisha should not be left to die silent deaths,” he said.
Calls for help
Meanwhile, family members of stranded migrant workers have sought government intervention for the return of their near and dear ones.
“My daughter and son-in-law are working in a brick kiln near Visakhapatnam. They are desperate to return. The brick kiln owner is not allowing them to return. We are hearing that people are being brought back to Ganjam, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s home district. Why are such efforts not being made for western Odisha?” asked Bhagaban Bag, a native of Dahita village under Bargarh district.
Similarly, in Belpara block of Balangir district, the ageing father and wife of Indrajit Putel, who works in a brick kiln in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh, have been begging for help for the return of Mr. Putel. Nothing, however, has materialised so far.
