Odisha Govt Sets Up Special Task Force To Check Distress Migrations

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Monday constituted a high-level task force to brainstorm and recommend holistic measures to address the problem of distress migrations in the state.

Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo will lead the task force as chairman while Deputy CM Pravati Parida and Panchayati Raj Minister Rabi Narayan Naik will be its members, a press note released by the state government stated.

Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Development Commissioner Anu Garg are also members of the task force.

Similarly, ministers of other departments and secretaries will be inducted into the task force on need basis, sources added.

The Special Task Force will recommend steps to be taken up by various Government agencies to check distress migration and also to mitigate the sufferings of the migrant labourers of Odisha, officials said.

The Secretariat of the Task Force shall be located in Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, sources said.

This high-level task force will discuss in detail the problems of migrant workers and prevent distress migrations and decide the course of action to solve the problems.

It will also recommend steps to be taken up by various Government agencies to check distress migration and also to mitigate the sufferings of the migrant labourers of Odisha.

The Task Force shall meet at least once in six months to review the progress. The Task Force may co-opt a few expert members of National/ International repute working in this field. It may also co-opt academicians, Development practitioners, UN agency representatives, etc, the press note added.

The Task Force will examine the nature of migration region-wise and recommend specific interventions needed.

It will also deliberate upon the regional variation, seasonality as well as the magnitude of the migration and recommend strategies to reduce distress migration and will deliberate upon the existing activities/ interventions being made by different departments to reduce distress migration and the effectiveness of the same by studying the existing legal/policy provisions to tackle the problem.

To deal with the complex nature of the problem the Task Force has been assigned to recommend specific measures required to be taken by various departments in terms of creating infrastructure as well as opportunities for livelihood within the state through skilling, credit availability, linking the family with anti-poverty programs etc.

It will also recommend additional targeted interventions/schemes required to be taken up by the State Government and will suggest the Institutional framework required to be put in place at State, District, Block level to tackle the issue in holistic and sustainable manner.

In order to address the issues effectively the Task Force will deliberate upon the need to develop partnerships with expert agencies, Civil Society, and Technical organizations for improving the effectiveness of the interventions proposed.

Apart from these, the task force will discuss and recommend the necessary coordination with the Government of India and various state governments to ensure availability of resources for all these measures and to resolve the problems of migrant workers in a comprehensive manner, the government press release stated.