Bhubaneswar: A two-day South Asia Labour Mobility Conference has been held under the joint auspices of the Royal Government of Bhutan and the World Bank.
Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha and Chairman of the Task Force for Migrant Workers, participated from India.
Leading economists from South Asia, including the World Bank, attended the conference and delivered their speeches. While attending the conference, the Deputy Chief Minister discussed with Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhoen Tshering Tobgay to work together in all possible ways.
On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Singh Deo said that the Migration is a multifaceted reality that greatly affects the quality of life and economic growth of the people.
In India, about 10 crore workers migrate to other places every year, usually for one to six months. According to the census data, about 139 million have migrated within India. Due to migration, most of them are deprived of various welfare schemes in their own region.
To address the problems they face in their places of migration, the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act has been enacted and implemented since 1979.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Odisha is 42 million. Out of these, 14 districts have been identified as migrant-prone and some significant steps have been taken by the Odisha Government. In which, major steps have been taken to combat exploitative advance payment system, regulating informal recruitment chain, creating awareness for informed migration, strengthening skill development linkages, working towards inter-state portability of services, etc.
Along with this, migrant labour help desks in multiple states, district-level emergency relief fund of Rs. 15 lakhs each, he has drawn the attention of the world community by highlighting these arrangements of the fund etc.
He also said that 67 online services are being provided through the PAReSHRAM portal, including migrant worker registration.
The summit will strengthen cross-border cooperation and help in empowering migrant workers. Along with this, it will further strengthen the ties between the countries, said Deputy Chief Minister Singh Deo.
Anna Bjerde, MD of Operations, World Bank, Franziska Ohnsorge, Chief Economist, South Asia, World Bank, Roberta Gatti, Chief Economist Middle East and North Africa, World Bank, Liju George, Principal Secretary, Labour & ESI, Govt. of Odisha Chitra Arumugam was also present at the conference. Representatives from Maldives, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Canada, Middle East, Australia, Italy, Philippines attended the conference.
