Kendrapara, Dec 10 (LocalWire): Susant Singh, the minister of Labour and Employees’ State Insurance, Rural Development inaugurated the Migration Support and Resource Centre (MSRC) at Kendrapara town today to provide help to migrant workers of the district who work in other states and countries.
The minister also launched three helpline numbers which are toll free. The authorities will provide help to the migrant workers if they face exploitation or if they are in any need in their workplaces in the country or abroad through the helplines, said Samarth Verma the Collector, Kendrapara.
‘We will prepare a database with the help of the district labour office, panchayat bodies , NGOs and other government agencies. Around 80,000 plumbers from Pattamundai, Aul, Rajnagar and Rajkanika blocks of the district work as plumbers in the country and abroad, Every year, thousands of workers from the district migrate to work as plumbers elsewhere. They are often exploited by middlemen, contractors, builders and others and the database and helpline will help them to inform us about their problems,’ added the Collector.
‘We are happy helplines have been introduced as there is hardly any village in the district without its share of migrant plumbers.
The plumbers of Kendrapada district have been dominating the sanitary business both in India and abroad for decades. Stories of plumbers of Kendrapada returning to their villages after a decade with lots of money’ said Jagajiban Das, a trade union leader of the district.
The state government had established State Institute of Plumbing and Technology (SIPT) at Pattamundai in 2010 to help the youth of the district learn more about modern plumbing technology to compete with plumbers from other states.
Many trained plumbers from SIPT have got jobs in construction and water and sanitation companies. Trained plumbers also work independently but many young men often fall prey to fraudulent recruitment agencies and fake visa and travel agents.
‘We hope now they will get help from authorities,’ said Subash Singh, a trade union leader and chief of Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Board. The meeting was also addressed by Kendrapara MLA Sashi Bhusan Behera, Rajnagar MLA Dhruba Sahoo, Aul MLA Pratap Dev and others.
LocalWire
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