Balangir, Jan. 29: State labour commissioner Salini Pandit has met district collectors, superintendents of police and labour officials of five west Odisha districts here in the wake of the chopping of hands of two labours in Kalahandi district and another incident in Balangir.
Yesterday, she asked the administration to strictly implement the inter-state Migrant Workers’ Act, 1979.
Pandit said those, who were willing to go to another state to work, could go, but their safety must be ensured. “We are not going to stop migration of people who go out to earn their living. But, we want that their safety must be ensured,” she said.
“If a labour contractor is taking away five or more villagers from a village, he has to register their names and addresses in the district labour office,” she said.
“The administration must conduct awareness camps at villages to aware people about various aspects of migration,” she said.
At the same time, she emphasised on proper implementation of various government schemes such as the MGNREGA, social security schemes and public distribution system (PDS). “Emphasis should be given to proper implementation of various government schemes and involve more people in such programmes,” she said.
Pandit said the department was viewing the case of Sushanta Kumbhar, whose hand was smashed and broken by a brick kiln owner in Tamil Nadu, at par with the case of chopping of hands of migrant labours by middlemen in Kalahandi. She also said she had received a grievance from a woman whose husband was missing in Andhra Pradesh. “We are looking into it,” she said.