The Mamata Banerjee government on Monday set up the Migrant Workers’ Development Board, the first such board to take care of the welfare and complaints of lakhs of migrant workers from the state.

Multiple sources said the seven-member board would help the government woo families of migrant workers before rural polls.

“The decision to form the new board for migrant workers was passed on Monday at the cabinet meeting in Nabanna. Law minister Moloy Ghatak was made its first chairman. It will start work very soon,” said a senior bureaucrat.

A source said chief minister Mamata Banerjee proposed the board in the state after explaining its need to take care of migrant workers’ issues. Ghatak apart, the board has six more members, including Jakir Hossain, a minister from Murshidabad district known for its huge reserve of migrant workers.

“The board will first prepare the proper database of migrant workers to help them get government help if they face any crisis at their workplaces,” said a source.

According to a rough estimate by several district administration and private organisations, Bengal has over 22 lakh migrant workers in Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir, among others in India. Another five lakh go abroad, mainly to the Gulf.

“We welcome the state government’s move to form the board. We will also request the Centre for a similar body for migrant workers,” said Samirul Islam, the president of Bangla Sanskriti Mancha, an apolitical body that works for the welfare of migrant workers in Bengal.

Bangla Sanskriti Mancha recently wrote to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a dedicated department or body for migrant workers.

A minister said such a board was needed after witnessing how thousands of migrants faced trouble returning home during the lockdown amid the Covid-19 outbreak.