NEW DELHI:10 july 2020. Twenty days after the launch of Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to provide employment opportunities to migrant labourers in six states, the Centre is planning to extend the programme to Opposition-ruled states of Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.
The move comes after Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal had pointed out that the states had a large population of migrant workers but had not been included in the 125-day programme launched by Primeminister.
The move comes after Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal had pointed out that the states had a large population of migrant workers but had not been included in the 125-day programme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel had written to Modi and said that the state had received at least 5 lakh migrant labourers from other states but had not been included. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had accused Centre of intentionally excluding West Bengal, to which finance minister Nirmala Sitharam had said that the state had not furnished data on migrant labourers to facilitate its inclusion.
According to sources, the ministry of rural development, the nodal ministry for the programme, has sought details from states for extension of programme to districts. The data reveals that at least one district in Chhattisgarh and two in West Bengal would be included under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan. The data, which has been shared with Prime Minister’s Office, shows that only one district from Chhattisgarh has more than 25,000 migrant labourers.
The scheme aims to provide employment and livelihood opportunities for 125 days to migrant labourers and in the process create public infrastructure in the villages in 116 districts across six states with a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crore. So far, the programme covers districts with more than 25,000 migrant labourers in states of Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha.
Apart from districts in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, the programme is likely to include more districts from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. A senior official, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, “We had sought data from states on migrant labourers and on that basis the scheme was rolled out in 116 districts. It has been 20 days of implementation and the processes have now settled down. We can extend the scheme to include other districts. Data from states has been reviewed and forwarded to PMO for final decision.”
As per labour ministry statistics, made public last month, Chhattisgarh had the most number of migrant labourers at 5 lakh. However, the district-wise numbers and the scheme guidelines would mean that only one district with over 25,000 would be included.
Over the last 20 days, 54.63 million man days have been created under the scheme, as per government statistics. “Most of the migrant workers who have returned to native villages are largely trained in construction activities. Though it is not possible to undertake skill mapping of all migrant labourers, we have asked state governments to focus on construction work,” said the official.
