Synopsis With the growth of urbanization and industrialization, the trend of migration within the country has increased significantly. In fact, out-migration of rural workmen is not a recent phenomenon. With the Orissan economy hitting the lowest ebb and job market going dry, the labour migration has assumed alarming proportion, particularly in the tribal dominated districts. Though the famished labourers travel to far off places in search of livelihood, their financial condition hardly improves, as they become easy targets of exploitation by the employers outside the state.In the absence of a detailed study, the present study has been claimed to be the first such study ever attempted confined to Kalahandi, Bolangir and Malkangiri (KBK) districts -- the drought prone, poverty stricken, tribal dominated and the most backward districts of India. Based on both primary and secondary data, the study in general and the regional analysis in particular, provides a necessary base for further research into the underlying reasons of migration and their socio-economic consequences. The study is of immense significance to the planners, policy makers, anthropologists, sociologists, administrators, researchers, social scientists and others who are keenly interested to ameliorate the conditions of the poverty-stricken Tribals and Dalits.