‘Keep data of foreign-goer Gajapati labourers’

PARLAKHEMUNDI: The people of Gajapati district urged the district administration to keep complete data about the labourers of the district who use to go foreign countries in search of employment. At the time of the need, the information can be used by the administration to rescue the labourers in distress in the foreign countries, the people said.

It may be noted that youths from the district have gone abroad to work in different infrastructure, oil and other sectors. Most of the youths from Gosani block of the district prefer to fly for Dubai, Oman, Libya and other oil rich countries where they get good money after completion of ITI and diploma courses. But the youths, who are working in the cement companies and in the construction sectors, they get exploited by the contractors and company officials there.

According to the locals, there is no information about the migrant labourers near the district labour office. How many officials aware about the problems of the migrant labourers, questioned the locals.

Recently, more than hundred Odia labourers were stranded in Angola and being harassed by the company they were working for. They had protested the authorities of the cement company to pay them proposed wage. The Angola police had started firing when they agitated against the company. When it was happening there in the foreign land, the State or the Central Government was not aware about it until they send their video footage from there to an Indian media.

This is happening in a regular basis, but it can be avoided through some innovative initiative by the local administration and the Government. The Government should form a guideline to keep complete data, like Passport and Visa, about each migrant labourers.