Bhubaneswar: Taking a dig at Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over its second-richest regional political party status, BJP on Sunday held it responsible for the plight of lakhs of migrant labourers from Odisha and demanded a white paper on the issue.
Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, Odisha BJP general secretary Lekhashree Samantasinghar referred to the ADR report which showed BJD as the second-highest earner among regional parties at Rs 307 crore in 2021-22 and said the ruling party has become richer, but made the people of the state poorer.
“Odisha is rich with its rich natural and mineral resources. The ruling BJD has also become richer, but Odias have turned poorer with lakhs of them moving out of the state as migrant labourers due lack of jobs,” she claimed.
Claiming that at least ten migrant labourers have died under unusual circumstances in the last three months, the BJP leader accused the state government of being insensitive towards the plight of migrant labourers.
Accusing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of neglecting the poor migrant labourers and keeping himself busy in posting videos shot in Japan, Samantasinghar alleged the state government has no data on the number of migrant labourers from Odisha who are working in different states.
Claiming that the highest number of migrant labourers are from the CM’s home district Ganjam, she said more than five lakh migrant labourers have moved out of the district to different states. Over 75 per cent of migrant labourers from Ganjam are engaged in textile mills in Surat, she claimed.
Accusing the BJD government of not doing registration of migrant labourers to hide their number, the BJP leader claimed that people are forced to move to other states in search of jobs in the absence of employment opportunities in Odisha.
Accusing BJD of having failed to provide jobs to the youth despite being in power for the last 23 years, Samantasinghar demanded that the state government release a white paper on migrant labourers from Odisha working in different states giving details about their number and codition.
