Elections mean nothing for migrant workers

The hustle and bustle of the polls has gripped rural areas of Odisha but the upcoming festival of democracy brings no cheer to Bairagi Majhi of Manigaon village in Bangomunda block.
A group of migrant workers travel to their work site in a mini truck I FILE PHOTO
A group of migrant workers travel to their work site in a mini truck I FILE PHOTO

BALANGIR: The hustle and bustle of the polls has gripped rural areas of Odisha but the upcoming festival of democracy brings no cheer to Bairagi Majhi of Manigaon village in Bangomunda block.

The 65-year-old man and his wife Hema are alone in their house as their son, daughter-in-law and grand children are far away in Andhra Pradesh working as labourers in a brick kiln, with no possibility of coming home this election season.

“They had come home four months back for the Pushpuni festival. They will not return again to cast their votes as the brick kiln owner would not allow them,” he said.

Bairagi said he does not want his son and his family to take risks by coming back to exercise their franchise. “What will we get by voting,” he said with a tone of gloom that can be heard across the district.

Similar is the tale of 80-year-old Rama Dharua of Malijhar village in Belpada block and 85-year-old Bharat Mahanand of Raikhal village.  They children and their families too are away in Andhra Pradesh working as labourers.

The impact of distress migration in the district is such that a village Tentelmunda in Belpada block wears a deserted look as more than 45 percent of its residents have left for Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to work in brick kilns and other industries.

Even as campaigning for the General Elections assumes peak in the region, the families of those who had migrated to other States in search of work are least bothered about it. For them, working hard to earn two square meals a day for their families, is more important than the promises of political parties which have not been successful in improving their condition.

The two western Odisha districts of Balangir and Nuapada have the dubious distinction of most labourers moving out to other states in search of work.

As per a conservative estimate, around 1.5 lakh people migrate out of the two districts every year. Since elections are scheduled in April, it is unlikely that the migrant labourers will return as they come back to their villages only in June. No steps have been taken by the administration to ensure these migrant voters exercise their franchise.

Election campaigning is likely to be a lacklustre affair in most villages in the absence of these large chunks of migrant voters. Sources said those candidates who can facilitate their return to the villages are likely to have an edge over their rivals. Jatin Patra, an activist said, “Our system has gone so wrong that our own people are away at the time of polls and cannot exercise their voting rights.”

Divisional Labour Commissioner of Balangir Saroj Ranjit said there is no provision to provide monetary compensation to labour contractors for bringing back the workers to vote in their villages.“The administration is serious on the issue. We have appealed the labour contractors to facilitate the return of the migrant workers so that they can vote in the ensuing polls,” he said.

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