In a novel initiative, the Bihar government will run skill-improvement programmes in states like Karnataka and Kerala.

The step is taken with the aim of enabling migrant workers to get “higher wages” and having “better bargaining power”.

Such training, state officials believe, would help migrant workers from Bihar get higher wages and recognition as skilled workers. Besides scope for upgradation in future, the training could also equip them with knowledge of safe money transfer and access to health-care.

The Bihar Skill Development Mission (BSDM) under state’s labour department has chalked out the programme for training migrant workers from Bihar now working in Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi (NCR), West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra and Daman and Diu.

Companies selected by the state government will conduct the programme in states that have a large number of migrant workers from Bihar. The target for the first year would be around 1,000 migrants per state. There around 40-50 lakh migrant workers from Bihar across the country.

“This is a new initiative. The targeted sectors are construction, garment, retail and security,” Labour Department Secretary Dipak Kumar Singh told DH through e-mail.
Migrant labourers are mostly unskilled.