KENDRAPARA: Several migrants, after returning to the district from their work places, have turned farm workers to make ends meet. One such returnee, 32-year-old Amar Behera of Iswarpur village worked as a binder in a construction firm in Mumbai. He returned two months back due to the lockdown and after spending three weeks in a quarantine centre, started working as a farm worker. 

Similar is the state of 27-year-old Jagannath Das of Bharatapur village, who worked as a salesman in a shop in New Delhi. The lockdown forced him to quit his job and return. Now he works as a labourer in a farm in his village. 

Sarpanch of Bharatapur gram panchayat Chittaranjan Das said 60 youths of the village worked in cities across the nation and were rendered jobless due to the lockdown. “We used to hire farm workers from distant places. But now most of the returnees are working in farms,” he said. 

The abundance of manpower has brought cheer to the farmers as they are expecting a bumper crop this year. The recent rains have readied the farm lands for cultivation and the workers are being used for sowing work by the farmers. “We have no time to waste. We are now clearing our fields to sow seeds,” said Ramesh Rout of Garadapur, who has engaged three migrants for his three acre farmland. 

A few migrants are content with their new jobs. Alok Sahoo of Bharatpur used to work as a waiter in a hotel in Hyderabad. “I was betrayed by the hotel owner who did not pay his staff any salary as soon as the lockdown was announced. I am happy to work as a farm worker in my village. I will try to build a new life here despite the economic difficulties,” he said. But Jagannath Rout of Pattamundai, who worked as a plumber in New Delhi, is looking forward to return once the lockdown is over. “I cannot work as a farm worker,” he said. 

Around one lakh workers of the district worked in other states.  “Around 25,418  persons  from other states have returned from their work places to the  district till date. They have been put under quarantine  in different  centres. We are determined to provide them jobs under MGNREGS and other  schemes of the Government,” said Collector Samarth Verma.