Porvorim, Goa/ New Delhi: In a move that would effectively help in the smooth formulation of state and national level programs for migrant workers, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) launched ShramShakti, a National Migration Support Portal in the country. The portal would be accessible both through a website and also via mobile application.
The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda also launched a tribal migration cell along with the Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Pramod Sawant in a virtual event today. On the occasion, the honourable minister also announced the setting up of a tribal museum at Goa and also launched ShramSaathi, a training manual for migrant workers.
Speaking on the occasion, the honourable minister mentioned that the absence of accurate data of migrants was the biggest challenge for state and national governments in formulating effective strategies and policy decisions for welfare of migrant workers at both source and destination states. There are around 30 million migrant workers in the country.
“Migrants all over the country had to face hardships after lockdown was announced due to the pandemic caused by coronavirus. The migration of tribal population is distress-driven and the migrants were exposed to difficult and unsafe conditions. Sometimes they faced trafficking or wages harassment issues including many occupational hazards at the workplace,” He said.
The honourable minister explained that the Tribal Migration Repository, ShramShakti would be able to successfully address the data gap and empower migrant workers who generally migrate in search of employment and income generation.
“The analysis of this data by employing Artificial Intelligence to create basic and predictive analyses, which will provide direction to the state and central governments for formulating suitable strategies and policies to support migrating tribals. This data and analyses will be displayed on a comprehensive dashboard and can be accessed at village-block-district-state and national level by various tiers of government authorities,” the honourable minister explained.
It would also help the government for linking the migrant population with the existing Welfare Scheme- under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The various data that will be recorded via ShramShakti include demographic profile, livelihood options, skill mapping and migration pattern.
The minister also launched the tribal training module- ShramSaathi, to ensure that the process of livelihood migration is safe and productive. “Tribal migrant workers often have low awareness about their rights and entitlements and ways to access services and social security in source and destination areas,” he said.
Shri Munda also stated that after training via this module, tribal migrant workers will be able to demand and access services, rights and entitlements related to livelihood and social security at their village before migration, as well after migration at destination towns and cities.
He also mentioned the importance of having a huge working population and their advantage in nation-building. “These workers are not the liability but an asset to the country in the nation-building process. They are the direct contributors in the development and hence should be treated well and need to be taken care of,” Shri Munda emphasized.
Smt Renuka Singh, Honourable Minister of State, Ministry of Tribal Affairs explains that the data collected from the online portal, the government would be able to ensure that their schemes and the facilities are directed to every single migrant worker in the country.
“The migrant workers contribution to the process of nation building is unaccounted for at the moment. The data would ensure that every migrant labourer’s contribution is accounted for,” She explained.
The Chief Minister of Goa, Shri Pramod Sawant informed that Goa is going to be the first destination state of India to set up a dedicated ‘Migration Cell’ to address diverse issues of migrant workers.
“The cell would address multiple needs of migrants – legal support, skill development, job linkages, access to public services, health, insurance, financial inclusion,” said Shri Sawant. He discussed that there will exist a mechanism by which all the migrant workers coming to Goa by road or railway would get registered at the first touchdown point like the railway station or a bus depot.
Shri Deepak Khandekar, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs stated that technology has facilitated the ministry in achieving a lot of social welfare schemes so far. “The National Migrant Repository programme is another milestone in the history of the ministry which will address many issues of the tribal migrant workers in the country.” The cascaded impact will be felt by the allied ministries as well to find employment opportunities for their migrant workforce in their departments,” he said.
Dr Naval Kapoor, Joint Secretary, MOTA explained that there would be a Tribal Research Institute (TRI) set up in Goa along with a migration cell for which the process has already been completed. “Also having a Tribal Museum in Goa was a long pending demand of the Goa government and their wish has been fulfilled now as there would be a museum on tribal life. This would showcase the diverse ways and the ethnic roots of various tribes in the country,” he said.
Dr Kapoor also informed that the ministry is going to collaborate with the Goa Government to set up an Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) under special provisions for the benefit of the tribal students living in the state. “The state has 12 percent of the tribal population. The EMRS would ensure quality education to the tribal students here,” He added.
