The Mamata Banerjee government has decided to launch massive outreach programmes in states like Kerala, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka to get more migrant labourers from Bengal registered on the Karmasathi portal, which was launched as part of an initiative to offer a better deal to people leaving Bengal in search of livelihood.
The attempt to reach out to the migrant workers, a source said, was initiated after the Nabanna top brass found that only about 34 per cent of the estimated migrant labourers had registered their names on the portal through the recent Duare Sarkar camps.
Sources in Nabanna said the chief minister’s office had a record of 40,00,858 migrant labourers who had returned to Bengal during the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
A majority of the workers were brought back by the state and the rest had returned on their own.
“But the names of only 13.60 lakh migrant labourers were registered on the Karmasathi portal through the Duare Sarkar camps held between September 1 and 30. So, it
has been decided that outreach programmes will be held in the states with most of the migratory labourers. The details of the programmes will be finalised soon,” said a senior Bengal government official.
According to the records, 9,03,611 workers were brought back from Kerala during the lockdown, but only 2,26,763 people employed in the southern state have registered their names on the portal. Similarly, only 2,24,607 workers in Maharashtra have recorded their details on the portal though 7,17,594 labourers had been ferried back to Bengal from the western state during the pandemic.
The picture is not much different in the case of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka. Only 1,40,085 migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu have registered their names though the number of returnees from TN in 2020 had been 6,12,477.
The number of migrant workers who returned to Bengal during the lockdown from Gujarat and Karnataka was 4,69,069 and 2,74,568, respectively.
However, the registered migrant labourers in Gujarat and Karnataka are just 59,218 and 96,082, respectively.
A source said the government was toying with the idea of setting up help desks in the states with migrant workers to get them registered with the portal.
“The total figure of current migrant workers might increase or decrease now since the state initiated some measures to give the migrants jobs in Bengal. At the same time, some people went out of the state in search of livelihood. Whatever the situation is, it is clear that many of the migrants did not register their names on the portal,” said a bureaucrat.
The Mamata Banerjee dispensation also has a plan to arrange for jobs for the migrant labourers in Bengal after they registered their names. The government is trying to get in touch with several companies in Bengal with a plea to employ labourers from within the state. The Karmasathi portal will have details of the workers available and the companies can choose the required hands from among them.
“The success of such an effort depends on the registration of the migrant labourers on the Karmasathi portal and that’s why outreach campaigns are charted to record the names of all the migrants,” said a source.
The government had taken the initiative to get the migrant workers registered with the Karmasathi portal in a bid to provide them with jobs in the state and also initiate a skill development programme for them so that they can earn more.
But it was found that migrant labourers working in states like Kerala, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka have shown little interest in registering themselves in the portal.
Reaching out to the migrant workers is very important for the ruling establishment in Bengal ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as this lot can change the electoral fate of the political parties in districts like North and South Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, North and South 24 Parganas.
The ruling establishment, sources said, has aimed to reach out the migrant labourers as it felt that the BJP had put up a better show in the north Bengal districts from where most of the migrant workers go to other states only because the ruling party did not get their support.
“The situation this time is also not in favour of the ruling party. The government had tried to give them jobs under the 100 days’ job scheme after they returned to the state during the pandemic. But soon after the lockdown was eased, they went back to their workplaces. This makes it clear they did not get enough opportunity in the state. This remains as an Achilles Heel for the ruling party,” said a source.
