Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase employment limit under the MGNREGA from 100 to 200 days which would benefit 70 lakh families in rural areas of the state hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the Centre has started the 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan' to provide employment at the local level to migrant labourers who have returned home during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. Rajasthan also has a large number of migrant labourers returned home during the lockdown, Gehlot said.
"To provide employment to these migrant labourers, the Centre is requested to increase the employment limit provided under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) per family from 100 days to 200 days. Seventy lakh rural families of the state will get the benefit of creating an additional 100 man-days," the chief minister said in the letter.
The Rajasthan government has issued job cards under MGNREGA to the migrant labourers who returned home during the lockdown. More than 50 lakh workers are currently employed under the scheme in the state and most of these rural families will be eligible for 100 days of employment in the coming month, the chief minister said in a statement.
He requested that the entire amount, including state's share, be borne by the Centre in order to implement the 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan Abhiyan' on the ground.
In the letter, Gehlot also sought allocation of five kg of wheat per person and one kg of gram per family for three months to 3.57 lakh helpless families of the state.
The prime minister on Saturday launched an employment scheme, 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan', with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore for migrant workers who returned to their home states during the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
The 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' will be implemented on a mission mode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received the maximum numbers of migrant workers back.
Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot also participated in the inauguration programme through video conference.
Twenty-two districts of Rajasthan, Pali, Udaipur, Jalore, Sirohi, Dungarpur, Banswara, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jodhpur, Barmer, Bikaner, Nagaur, Sikar, Alwar, Karauli, Bharatpur, Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu, Churu and Jaipur have been included in the scheme.
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