Migrant labour from Odisha working in different industries in Andhra Pradesh have lodged more than 100 complaints with the Labour Department officials in the past five years alleging harassment and seeking help to come out of the clutches of managements and go back to their native places.
The migrant workers, said to be in lakhs, are mostly engaged in aqua units, brick kilns, sand ramps, hotels, and building construction in the State. Many arrive with their families and reportedly often suffer due to poor facilities at workplaces besides facing harassment from managements which do not adhere to the provisions of various laws such as the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.
Some of them are paid meagre wages and are not provided with proper accommodation and toilets at work sites. Their children are denied schooling, and other facilities at units like brick kilns, sand ramps and construction sites, it is said.
