PANAJI
Vulnerable and discriminated, Goa's migrant workforce who of late have been accused of involvement in crime by no less than Chief Minister Pramod Sawant himself, can now hope to get a social and healthcare crutch, ironically from the same government's administrative dispensation itself.
High-ranking officials from several State government's key line departments were recently acquainted with strategies and equipped with skills and knowledge to address migrant worker needs.
The workshop, an initiative of the NITI Aayog and the World Health Organisation (WHO) was attended by top and mid-level bureaucrats drawn from several State government departments covering diverse sectors such as social protection, health and public services which administer social sector schemes the migrant workforce are eligible to avail.
Labour Commissioner Agnelo Fernandes inaugurated the workshop held recently at the MCC Hall, at Shrama Shakti Bhawan, EDC Patto Plaza.
A team from Disha Foundation led by Dr Nandkumar Sawant provided the comprehensive training module to the bureaucrats to tackle challenges and serve the migrant workers more effectively.
A series of interactive sessions covering theoretical knowledge and practical exercises were led by Dr Sawant, who is a research scholar in population studies and migration.
Effective community level communication, policy implementation and change management which directly affect the migrant labour force who usually struggle to integrate with local communities and are mostly socially ostracised were extensively covered by Dr Sawant.
Addressing social protection for migrant workers by adopting modern technologies and digital tools was specifically emphasised by Dr Sawant who underscored the need for the State government departments to adapt and integrate digital solutions to deliver services which are rightfully meant for migrant workers.
The Disha Foundation team comprising Vinit Kundaikar, Nidhi Vaingankar and Vaibhav Bhide dealt with the practical issues faced by key government departments in delivering social protection and healthcare schemes to the migrant workforce.
Developing a database of unorganised sector workers, the inadequacy of which is usually the lacuna which contributes to benefits going undelivered to the migrant beneficiary, was another important area covered.
All the participating Goa government bureaucrats filled a post workshop survey questionnaire which was designed to evaluate their pre and post knowledge analysis.
The day-long workshop and the local bureaucrats' enthusiastic involvement is at worst, a glimmer of hope for the non-Goan workforce often ostracised and cursed as 'ghantis' by sections from Goa's political and social ecosystem.
