6

Sa-Dhan Patrika

Volume 6

Issue 2

As per the study there are a minimum of

about to complete our relief work people

36 private operators and they do good

explained how difficult it was to send

business in Surat. The service charges (SC)

money to their families. We discussed the

are usually four to six per cent of the

situation with the local politicians, the

money transferred. The SC at time

labour officer and the bankers. All our

increases seeing the urgency of the case.

efforts were futile except with the

There are no formal rules or regulations as

Corporation Bank. The senior branch

such but broadly the situation is this. There

manager, Mr. Mallya, went beyond his

are formal counters and small paper

capacity and extended all kinds of

works are also undertaken to give an

support only because we were working

impression that this work is carried out

with the poor. Of course the credibility in

under a legal framework. However there

our bank transaction remained as a kind

have been no cases where these

of mortgage with them.

operators have run away with the

So the huge sum of

Process:

money. In some cases their collection

money in the form

agents have run away with money or

We have our offices at both the place of

of remittance to

there are cases of theft while distributing

origin and the place of work. In between

the cash but, on the whole, these

the state of Orissa,

that  is  the  Bhubaneswar  or  the

operators have never cheated the

coordinating office. We have our staff

which totals

people.

posted in Gujarat and there are fixed

around Rs 100

days to send money (mon/wed/fri). By

crore, has not

On the other hand, the formal sector

10.30 am we receive the mail from

banks have never come forward to help

being given

Gujarat and then rush to the bank. After

these migrant workers. They have never

importance by the

withdrawal of the cash, the person has

considered the profitability of the

financial sector.

to physically carry the cash to the Orissa

accumulated value of the small money.

office (source place of migration). There

So the huge sum of money in the form of

are disbursement officers who again

remittance to the state of Orissa, which

carry the cash and they distribute either

totals around Rs 100 crore, has not being

on the same day or the next day. All this

given importance by the financial

takes about two to four days. At the

sector.

collection place the passbook is given

If we estimate such informal transfers of

and is updated after every remittance.

money throughout the country, the sum

The money receipt is provided to the

will be no less than Rs 1,000 crore. And

remitter only after the dependant in

most important is that all this money is

Orissa receives the money. The money

transacted outside the ambit of the

receipt contains some columns if the

present formal financial system. Although

recipient wants to convey a message to

it is not only the bankers but also the

the  remitter.  In  some  cases  the

government which can get a huge

distribution officer helps them to write. The

amount of money through indirect taxes.

remitter receives the money receipt

Apart from all this, the most shocking fact

within  seven  to  10  days  of  the

is that all this money is never used for

remittance.

productive  purposes.

Once  the

payment is made at the factories of

The people are very happy with this

Gujarat, the local economy becomes

arrangement. It is our experience that

vibrant.

such remittances have helped bear

expenses of marriage, hospitalisation,

The Indian postal system is the only

school admissions and many other such

system, which works very well in the

emergencies. This does not require any

villages. But it is so cumbersome and

external funds, only a quality and prompt

expensive (5%) that the people are

service.

gradually losing the faith in it. Apart from

this there are loopholes in the system,

Future Direction:

which help the lower-rung distributing

We at Adhikar are planning to enrol at

officials to use/misuse the money

least 10,000 people in this programme.

temporarily. Departmental actions have

We do hope that we will be achieving it

been carried but the present mode does

within three to five years. We also plan

not suit the huge demand.

to remit Rs one crore per month in the

Intervention of Adhikar:

next three years.

Adhikar, an NGO based in Orissa, went

We seek the support of regulatory

to help the Oriya people affected by

authorities in evolving a legal framework.

the earthquake in 2001. We ourselves

The untapped funds need to be utilised

were astonished to find so many Oriyas

properly  before  they  go  wrong

in the state of Gujarat. While we were

somewhere.

Mohammad Amin

Mohammad Amin is the president of Adhikar, based at Bhubaneswar and working

in Orissa

adhikar@satyam.net.in