Joda: Abject poverty has prompted rampant migration of people living in many parts of the mineral-rich district of Keonjhar. However, after they migrate to other parts of India to earn a livelihood, they are often subjected to torture and are not even paid proper salaries. Residents of this bustling town are no exception to this development. They migrate elsewhere in search of jobs.
Locals alleged that despite the Joda mining division contributing Rs 21,000 crore to the state exchequer nothing has been done to solve the unemployment problem in this town. They added Rs 1,500 crore is collected from the district mineral foundation (DMF) annually by the government, but even that is not used properly to provide relief to the people. If one traverses through this district, the plight of migrant labourers can be heard in every nook and corner.
Sources said that some residents of this town had migrated to Chennai for work. However, now they are being held hostage at a cement factory, given food only once a day and are being brutally assaulted by their employers if they protest. They are also forced to work more than 14 hours a day, the sources added. Sources said that the majority of men living in the tribal villages on the Suna river basin near this town have migrated for work to Chennai. However, most of them have remained incommunicado since their departure. Two tribal women, identified as Manasi Nag and Chandu Karua, residents of ‘Camp Hutting’ said that they do not even remember the last time they talked to their respective husbands who are supposedly in Chennai. They do not even know when their husbands will return. “I met the middleman who had provided my husband a job. I tried to find my husband’s whereabouts. However, he abused me and sent me back home,” informed Chandu. Similar is the story of another tribal woman Saraswati, whose minor son Kalathakur Karua has not returned home for more than a year now. Her co-villager, Sunita Naik is ailing and bed-ridden but has no information about her son George, who is working in Chennai. Unable to get any help from the touts, they lodged a ‘missing’ complaint at the Rugudi police station.
However, it did not yield any positive results. Many other families alleged that if jobs had been available at the various mines and quarries in Keonjhar district, the male members wouldn’t have been forced to seek livelihood elsewhere. “We have found in most cases that employers take away mobile phones. As a result, our family members lose touch with us. They cannot even tell us the exact locations,” said a woman. The residents of ‘Camp Hutting’ appealed to the district administration to arrange for the safe return of their near and dear ones.