Lockdown 3.0: Woes of Odisha migrant brick kiln workers overflow 

KENDRAPARA: Forty-year-old Abhaya Munda had arrived at Haladiagada in the district along with his wife and three children five months back hoping  to earn enough to lead a decent life in his native village in Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh. 

Abhaya used to toil hard from early in the morning till late in evening for a pittance. But the lockdown turned his world upside down as the owner of the brick kiln where he worked stopped paying him last week. 

Stranded without work and penniless, Abhaya and his family were evicted from their makeshift hut near the kiln.

Left with no option, they started a 700 km walk to their village. “How can we stay back after the owner asked us to leave. It would take us two weeks to reach our village,” he said.

 Abhaya was stopped by police personnel at Panchpandab for a few minutes on Monday but was let off after he narrated his plight to them. “We are not afraid of coronavirus. Our biggest threat at present is hunger,” he said. 

Similarly, 42-year-old Nilima Jana of Keonjhar district, who was working in a brick kiln at Badapala in Marsaghai block left on foot for her native village as she could not get a bus. The brick kiln where she worked was closed last week.

The stories of Abhaya and Nilima are the same as that of hundreds of workers who have set off on foot to reach their native villages.

Around 4,000 migrant workers from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other states, who worked across the district and its nearby areas, lost their livelihoods due to the lockdown. 

Director, Migration and Education of Aide et Action Umi Daniel said it is the duty of the district administration to arrange food and shelter  for such workers and also ensure they are paid by their employers.

“But as the officials have failed to act against the employers, the fate of a large number of migrant workers hangs in balance. They are most likely to die of hunger than Covid-19,” he said. 

District labour lfficer Ramachandra Nayak said, “The Government has directed us to take legal action against employers who retrenched their workers and evicted them from their work places. After getting complaints, we will take action against them.”