Basic minimum facilities for Oriya migrant labourers

Bhubaneswar, Sep 14 (UNI) Prabasi Oriya Samrik Sangha (POSS), a forum working for welfare of the Oriya migrant labourers, today said the migrant Oriya labourers were suffering untold miseries in Surat and criticised the Orissa government for not doing enough to redress their problems.

POSS conveners Md N Amin, Mahendra Parida and Anam Barik told mediapersons here that though around seven lakh migrant labourers were working in various textile industrial units of Surat for years but they were not given the basic minimum facilities provided under the industrial act.

There were no provision for drinking water, canteen facility, leave, identity card, toilet and ESI facilities for the Oriya migrant labourers, they said.

On the otherhand the labouers were being tortured by the industry owners, they alleged.

They demanded the Orissa government to take up the issue with its Gujarat counterpart and initiate steps for the proper renumeration of the migrant labourers, issue I Card to the labourers and to provide minimum basic facilities to them.

They also demanded the government to open a branch of the Orissa Labour Commission office in areas where majority of Oriya labourers were residing and to open more schools for their children.

UNI