Parliament Question: Labour migration

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 747 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026 LABOUR MIGRATION

747. SHRI NIRANJAN BISHI:

Will the Minister of Labour and Employment be pleased to state:

(a) whether Government has conducted any district-wise study on labour migration from western Odisha to other States;

(b) if so, the findings thereof indicating causes such as unemployment, low wages or agrarian distress; and

(c) the corrective measures taken to reduce distress migration? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

(a) to (c): In order to safeguard the interest of the Migrant workers, Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act,1979. This Act has been subsumed in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020. The OSH Code, provides for decent working conditions, minimum wages, grievance redressal mechanisms, toll free helpline, journey allowance, and social security to all categories of organized and unorganized workers including migrant workers.

The provisions of OSH Code applicable for migrant

workers are detailed as under:

It shall be the duty of every contractor or the employer, of an establishment employing inter-State migrant workers in connection with the work of that establishment—

(a) to ensure suitable conditions of work to such worker having regard to the fact that he is required to work in a State different from his own State;

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(b) in case of fatal accident or serious bodily injury to any such worker, to report to the specified authorities of both the States and also the next of kin of the worker;

(c) to extend all benefits to such worker which are available to a worker of that establishment including benefits under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 or the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 or any other law for the time being in force and the facility of medical check-up as available to a worker under clause (c) of sub-section

(1) of section 6.

(d) The employer shall pay, to every inter-State migrant worker employed in his establishment, in a year a lump sum amount of fare for to and fro journey to his native place from the place of his employment, in the manner taking into account the minimum service for entitlement, periodicity and class of travel and such other matters as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

(e)The appropriate Government may provide for study of inter-State migrant workers in such manner as may be prescribed by that Government”.

The provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been rationalized and subsumed under the Code on Wages, 2019 which have been made effective from 21.11.2025. Under the provisions of Code on Wages, 2019, the Central Government and the State Governments, as appropriate Government, fix, review and revise the minimum wages for all employments under their respective jurisdictions.

The Central Government in coordination with State Governments is implementing various developmental schemes for creating employment opportunities and improving infrastructure to encourage people to stay in their state, earn their livelihood and raise their quality of life near their places of residence.

The details of various entrepreneurship development initiatives being implemented by other Ministries/Departments of Government of India for entrepreneurs across country, including the

state of Odisha are as under:

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Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology etc. are implementing different employment generation schemes/ programmes like Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), the Vikshit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VBGRAMG), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Rural Self Employment and Training Institutes (RSETIs), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), National Handicrafts Development Programme etc., which, along with increase in capital expenditure, seeks to boost employment creation.

In addition, the Government is implementing Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support employment generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector. The scheme with an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs in the country, over a period of 2 years.

Further, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one- stop solution for providing career related services including jobs from private and government sectors, nformation on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through the digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in].

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