Telangana Launches Pilot Survey of Gulf Migrant Workers Ahead of Assembly Elections

Nizamabad: Ahead of Telangana Legislative Assembly general elections, a survey of migrant workers in the Gulf has started in the state. The survey has been launched on a pilot basis in Balkonda constituency of Nizamabad district.

Teams of village panchayat secretaries and Anganwadi workers have spread out in the constituency. They are reaching households to compile details of people who are working in the Gulf. Of the total 119 assembly constituencies in Telangana, around 32 have a sizable section of people who are working in various countries of the Gulf.

Incidentally, most of them are unemployed youth and unskilled workers from north Telangana districts, who have moved to the Gulf in search of a livelihood. Severe drought conditions in the area and Left Wing Extremism (LWE) have also prompted thousands of youth from Telangana to look for jobs abroad. Most of them are working in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, they have not received proper attention, whether in united Andhra Pradesh or in the Telangana state.

Their travails in those countries – widely reported in media – have received scant attention from the government. There have also been difficulties in shifting bodies of those who die in the Gulf countries, mostly due to accidents.

Thus, families, whose members are working abroad, are positive about government paying attention to them.

Roads and buildings minister V. Prashanth Reddy represents the Balkonda assembly constituency, where the survey has started. Prashanth Reddy directed officials to conduct the survey and extend any possible help.
Gram panchayat secretaries and Anganwadi workers are collecting information regarding the migrants’ names, contact numbers, country of work, and other details.

Morthad mandal parishad development officer Srinivas Reddy said data will be compiled and processed soon.