Problems Of 'Dadan Labour' Haunt Odisha Govt As Migrant Worker Dies In Bahrain

Berhampur, May 9: The problems of bonded labour, also known as 'Dadan labour', continues to haunt the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha ahead of the general elections.

A tragic incident came to fore today as a debt-ridden migrant worker from Odisha's Ganjam district died in Bahrain, an island country in West Asia.

The deceased has been identified as Sagar Pradhan, only son of Kartik Pradhan, of Bagalpur village under Khallikote block in Ganjam district- the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

According to sources, Sagar migrated to Bahrain to work as a bonded labourer to repay a loan of Rs 9 lakh that his family had allegedly taken from private moneylenders. He allegedly committed suicide in Bahrain on May 5. Later, their families were informed about the tragedy.

However, Sagar's family and villagers denied the suicide incident and alleged that he was killed for some other reason.

Meanwhile, the family members and villagers approached the Ganjam District Collector and SP to take necessary steps to bring the dead body to Khallikote.

Lakhs of people from Odisha leave their families, relatives and native places and migrate to outside the state or abroad in search of work. They are forced to leave their homeland as the 24-year-old stable BJD government allegedly failed to create employment opportunities in the State, according to the socio-economic analysts.

The migrant workers from Odisha fall into the trap of their employers and middlemen and face a lot of problems and sometimes, they lose their lives. Factors like long working hours, low wages, poor health etc cause their premature death, the analysts say.

Distress migration is a major issue in Odisha in the upcoming elections to Lok Sabha and State Assembly as lakhs of youths from Odisha are migrating outside the state in search of work.

Recently, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan came down heavily on the BJD government for its failure to provide jobs to the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the State.

Pradhan urged the people to bring the BJP government in Odisha and assured them that no one will have to migrate from the State, as BJP promised in its poll manifesto.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases, starting from Phase one on May 13, Phase two on May 20, Phase three on May 25 and the final Phase on June 1.

The results will be announced on June 4.