Workshop organised in Malda to promote ‘Karmsathi’ migrant workers dev scheme

Malda: A special workshop to promote the ‘Karmsathi’ migrant workers development scheme was held at the Town Hall in English Bazar on Tuesday. The event, attended by around 400 people from nearly all Gram Panchayats of Malda district, was jointly organised by the Malda district administration and the district Labour department. The main objective was to bring migrant workers and potential job seekers under the Karmsathi Portal, launched by the state government, to ensure they can access various benefits.

The programme featured discussions and interactions aimed at raising awareness among Self Employed Labour Organisers (SLOs), Pradhans and Upa Pradhans about the scheme’s provisions. The focus was on how to effectively register workers on the portal to avail themselves of financial assistance and other services. In a notable development, it was announced that the district has already distributed Rs 80 lakh in compensation to the bereaved families of 41 migrant workers who had either died of natural causes

or in accidents. Tania Dutta, Joint Labour Commissioner of Malda, stated that compensation would be distributed to the families of 29 more deceased workers under the scheme —Rs 2 lakh for accidental deaths and Rs 50,000 for normal deaths.

Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury, Chairman of English Bazar Municipality, urged better publicity of the toll-free number for families to contact authorities in case of issues. District Magistrate Nitin Singhania confirmed that there are currently 2.70 lakh registered migrant workers in Malda.