“Malayalam is not her mother tongue, yet it did not become a hindrance for this 26-year old Bihari woman who emerged the topper in a literacy examination conducted in the classical language in Kerala for migrant labourers,” said Fr. Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India. There is a need to develop a link between source and destination and doing this by having a database. The government have provisions for migrant workers, but they are not able to avail it. They do not identity card and not able to access government schemes and benefits. There are 29 Lakh migrants in Kerala and in other states. Caritas India had done researches during COVID-19 and have learnt the lessons. In this context, Caritas India has started the Pravasi Bandhu migrant workers program. Safe migration is becoming the larger take away for many organisations and many are willing to support and join for this cause.

Migrant workers are mostly treated as outsiders by the receiving communities, though they have been crucial to nation-building. They were invisible, and policymakers did not notice their needs until they came out to walk on the streets and highways they had built, on the way back to their homes, said Ms. Leeza, Caritas India. She presented the goal and program objectives of Pravasi Bandhu program.

Pravasi Bandhu is a new program for Caritas India which will start in March 2021. The partner consultation was organised to orient the partners about the migration program and discuss the operational plan. The program will be implemented in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan as source and Goa, Gandhinagar, Haryana and Delhi as destination states. All the Partner Directors were present for the meeting and shared their views and experiences. They appreciated the step taken by Caritas India to connect with source and destination and expressed their willingness to be part of this initiative.

Fr. Jolly, Assistant Executive Director of Caritas India said, “we are embarking on a very calculative and exciting journey where partners and Caritas India have opportunity to work with the migrant community and build their lives.” Holy Father and the church worldwide  talks more and more about migrants and it is going to be a reality, therefore we need to work collectively into the nation-building process.