**Bhubaneswar:** Odisha Labour & Employees’ State Insurance Minister Prafulla Mallick on Friday (March 24) informed the Assembly that 22 migrant labourers have died in their respective workplaces outside the State in the last three years.
In his written reply to a query made by Congress MLA-cum-Jeypore legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the Labour Minister also informed the House that ex-gratia to a tune of Rs 46,50,000 has been disbursed to the bereft kin from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF).
As per the data released to the House by the Minister, the 22 deaths have been reported between 2014 and 2016.
Out of the 22 deceased, 5 migrant workers hailed from Koraput district while 3 each from Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kendrapara and Rayagada districts, 2 each from Gajapati and Malkangiri districts and one from Nabarangpur district.
While 7 migrant labourers died near Porur, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, 2 at Thiruvallur in Tamil Nadu in 2014, 2 in Tumkur, Karnataka, one in Bengaluru, Karnataka, 2 in Ernakulam, Kerala, one in Telengana and one in Raipur, Chhattisgarh in 2015.
Out of them, three migrant workers had been killed in road accidents and their dead bodies had been brought back by the State Government and handed over to their family members, the Labour Minister informed adding one migrant labourer collapsed in labour camp at construction site in Bengarulu and his dead body was brought back by the co-workers.
One dead body of the migrant labourer was found in the boiler tank of worksite in Ernakulam while his skeleton after post-mortem has been preserved for further investigation of police, the Minister apprised the House.
In 2016, 4 migrant labourers (all from Koraput district) died in Chennai, Tamil Nadu due to accident on railway track and bodies were brought back to the family members.
In the same year, one migrant labourer from Ganjam died due to burning in Kerala while one from Kalahandi died due to sudden sickness in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. Both the dead bodies were brought back to the family members.
Out of the 22 dead migrant labourers, next of kin of 9 have been compensated with Rs 5 lakhs each, Rs 50,000 each to 3 deceased from the CMRF, the Labour Minister’s written reply stated.