A third of all migrant workers in the Darybadi block of the Kandhamal district in Odisha, who depend substantially on migration, are in Ernakulam, according to a last study.
Another fifth of the workers had moved to other districts such as Thrissur, Kannur or Pathanamthitta. Around 31.80% of migrants in Ernakulam belong to the programmed tribes (ST) and 37% to the other disadvantaged communities (ODC). For all kerala, the corresponding figures are 51.5% and 67.4%, respectively.
With the exception of about a quarter of the homes that followed Hinduism, all homes in Darybadi followed Christianity. Most households belong to ST communities, and almost 14% are SC and other backward communities (OBC). The STs constitute three fifths of the migrant workers of Daringbadi, and one fifth belongs to STS and other castes/backward communities. More than half of STS workers and two thirds of ODC workers had moved to Kerala.
The study, ‘Labor migration for the rural area of Odisha-Dingbadi Block, Kandhamal’, was carried out jointly by Gram Vikas, based in Odisha, an NGO dedicated to rural development and the Migration and Inclusive Development Center based in Kochi . The estimated total number of migrant workers in Darybadi in 2023 was 8,953 and at the time of the survey, 87% of migrant workers of Darybadi worked outside the State, mainly in Kerala and other states in southern India.
“Migration brings almost ₹ 347 million [₹35 crore] To Darybadi Block annually as remittances, reviving the economy of the block and improving the resistance of households. It has contributed to reducing the poverty of households with migrants, helping them pay loans, saving more, improving their home and asset base, providing a better education for children and raising their state in the town, ”said the study.
Climate change has affected the population to a large agrarian, where around three fifths of households depend on agricultural agriculture/ work as an important source of income, thus accelerating large -scale migration. In fact, more than 98% of households that practice agriculture are the opinion that climate change has negatively impacted agriculture.
Published – January 27, 2025 08:17 pm isth