At least 518 migrant workers from Odisha have died while working outside the state and the country in the last five years, the state Assembly was informed on Monday.
Labour and employees’ state insurance minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia shared the figures during the concluding day of the Winter Session. Of the total deaths, 239 were reported in the last two years alone.
According to Singhkhuntia, the highest number of deaths, 60, were reported from Kalahandi district, followed by 56 in Ganjam, 38 in Balangir, 35 in Nabarangpur, 34 in Kandhamal and 34 in Rayagada.
“Of the 518 deceased workers, the state government has brought back 395 bodies and handed them over to their families,” the minister said.
Large numbers of poor workers from Odisha migrate to states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, where they are mostly employed in brick kilns, textile
units and construction sites. People from Ganjam often migrate to Surat for textile work, while those from Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur take up plumbing jobs elsewhere in India.
Official data shows that 40,088 labourers have migrated to other states, and the government has issued licences to 626 labour contractors. Balangir district accounts for the highest number of migrant workers, followed by Nuapada in western Odisha.
Criticising the government, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) state president Janardan Pati said that despite repeated promises, “there is absolutely no relief for migrant workers in Odisha”.
“Tens of thousands of workers are leaving their homes every year in search of better wages and employment. The government claims that ₹16 lakh crore is being invested and new projects are coming up, yet people are not getting jobs,” Pati said. “In many cases, entire families migrate. Over 500 workers have reportedly died at their workplaces, though the real numbers may be higher as many deaths go unreported.”
Pati also accused the state’s BJP government of adopting “anti-worker policies” and backing employers. “The new labour codes will further ruin the lives of migrant
workers. Even the Contract Labour Regulation and Abolition Act has been amended in favour of contractors. Under the Modi regime, poor migrant and contract labourers will
be treated as slaves,” he alleged.
Noted rights activist Biswa Priya Kanungo said the recurring deaths underline the continued vulnerability of Odisha’s migrant workforce. “Migration is a consequence of debt and distress. Successive governments have made tall claims about tackling the problem, but the growing scale of labour migration shows that those claims are hollow,” Kanungo said. “These workers leave home out of desperation, not choice.”
Meanwhile, the state government has constituted a committee under deputy chief minister and agriculture and farmers’ empowerment minister K.V. Singh Deo to examine the issue of distress migration and suggest remedial measures.