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ESAF Suvidi

Overview

The project aims to ensure occupational, emotional, financial and social security for migrant workers and their families. The project will help migrant workers and their families to make informed migration decisions, build skills, provide information and ensure access to entitlements and social security schemes.

Project Objectives

To help the tribal/rural populations and migrant labourers in achieving a holistic transformation through an integrated livelihood intervention and community-based education.

To give entrepreneurship development training programmes.

To mobilise and improve the employability skills of migrant labourers.

To introduce financial literacy and inculcate financial discipline.

Activities

  • Setting up resource and help centre in three blocks and in one district.
  • Setting up a helpline number for migrant labourers.
  • Creating placement opportunities for 100 migrant labourers.
  • Distributing IEC materials for financial literacy

Impacts

  • Migrant resource centres in Kalahandi, Odisha – 4
  • Migrants availed transportation facility through centres – 134
  • Migrants availed placements through centres – 114
  • Migrants with access to accidental coverage insurance – 134
  • Financial Literacy awareness session for migrants and families - 479
  • COWIN registration and vaccination awareness - 167
  • Bank account opening for migrant dependents – 29

The joy of opening a bank account

The story of Balabhadra Nayak

To educate the migrant workers on financial literacy, PDS collaborated with Gram Vikas in Kalahandi, Odisha to undertake literacy campaigns. The initiative is part of the ‘Safe and Dignified Migration of the Rural Poor’ programme implemented in Gunupur, Gopalpur and Adri Gram Panchayats in the Thuamul Rampur block of Kalahandi district. Four resource centres were opened in Kalahandi to help the migrants achieve financial literacy and find better employment opportunities. The community champions of resource centres did a survey and found that more than half of the migrant workers from the Kalahandi district, who work outside the state, have an average monthly income of Rs. 9,000. Most of them transferred money to their family through the help of middlemen or friends as they don’t have bank accounts.

Balabhadra Nayak, 22 years, from Karang village, in Thuamul Gram Panchayat, has been working in stone quarries in Rayagada district of Odisha for two years. He comes back to his village once in six months, carrying the entire sum of his earnings in cash. He visited a local bank twice in Gunupur Panchayat, which is 10 kms from his village, but could not open a bank account. “The bank officials thrust a form in my hands and asked me to fill it up. I didn’t know how to fill up the form and also didn’t have the necessary documents. I was unable to understand the formalities required. So, I came back,” Balabhadra said. Community champions simplified the process for him and opened an account in his name, within one day. Balabhadra is a proud bank account holder now and no longer depends on others for transferring funds. After opening the account, he opined “The bank passbook gives me a sense of confidence. It’s a big thing for us and now my wife can plan to save some money in this account from my earnings.” The resource centre helped 29 migrant families to open accounts even in the midst of the pandemic.

A visual walkthrough of the project