Odisha launches toll-free number for Odia migrants

BHUBANESWAR: The government on Thursday launched a 24x7 toll-free Shramik Sahayata (migrant assistance) number to address issues faced by labourers during the lockdown. The helpline number — 18003456703 — will be operational at the office of the state labour commissioner here for which detail arrangements have been made, said an official.
“The helpline has been launched to address issues faced by Odia migrant workers in various states.We try to reach out to the workers with the help of the local administration,” said a senior government official.
As a number of states have imposed lockdown following the surge in cases, Odia migrant workers from different states have started heading back home. Even as the state government has allowed industrial and construction activities during its 14-day lockdown, people have started returning to their villages from different towns within the state.
The administrations of various migrant-prone districts like Ganjam, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Balangir and Nuapada have already activated their cluster temporary medical camps (TMCs), which are being used as quarantine centres for the returnees.
According to official figure, over 10.07 lakh migrants had returned to the districts during the first wave of which around 2.25 lakh returned to Ganjam alone. The largest populous district had become a hotspot during the first wave of the pandemic following the return of migrants.
“Though people are returning to their villages from different states where lockdown has been imposed, their numbers are very few compared to last year. We are ensuring home or institutional quarantine for all returnees,” said Ganjam district collector Vijay Amruta Kulange.
Various district administrations have also mobilized sarpanches, panchayati raj institution (PRI) members and anganwadi workers to ensure quarantine of all returnees from other states.
Apart from lockdown and shutdown, fear of the virus has also forced many to head back to their villages in the state. A number of Ganjam villages have witnessed return of migrants from big cities like Surat, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
“Though our factory is running, I have decided to return to my village because of fear of Covid and lack of hospital facilities. I feel safe in my village in the midst of my family members. I will only go back once the situation normalises,” said Debashish Dalai, a returnee in Ganjam who was working in an automobile firm in Chennai.