Railways to generate 8 lakh man days of employment for returning migrants, to spend 1,800 crore by October

The Railways will generate 8 lakh man-days of employment by the end of October 2020 to provide jobs to migrants who have returned home due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rs 1800 crore would be spent in 116 identified districts of six states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand - as part of the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan. 

Around 160 works infrastructure works have been identified which are to be expedited, the Railways said after a review meeting with Zonal Railways and Railway PSUs on the progress of Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan. 

Chairman Railway Board, Vinod Kumar Yadav took a video conference meeting with General Managers (GMs) and Divisional Railway Managers (DRMs) and Managing Directors (MDs) of PSUs regarding the scheme inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20. 

Addressing the meeting, Yadav instructed Zonal Railways to appoint nodal officers in each district as well as in the states so that close coordination is established with the state government. He directed Railway administration at Zonal level to act proactively to ensure migrants’ are engaged in projects and paid accordingly.

Railway has also identified a number of railway works which can be executed through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) which is providing lakhs of jobs to rural poor. 

"The works are related to (i) construction and maintenance of approach roads for level crossings, (ii) development & cleaning of silted waterways, trenches and drains along the track, (iii) construction and maintenance of approach road to railway stations, (iv) repair and widening of existing railway embankments and cuttings, (v) plantation of trees at extreme boundary of railway land and (vi) protection works of existing embankments, cuttings and bridges," the Railways said. 

Zonal Railways have also been instructed to get the sanction of proposed works under MGNREGS. Zonal Railways would be monitoring the works on a daily basis and submit a report to Ministry every Friday till the end of Oct 2020.

Modi launched the employment -cum- rural public works campaign named Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan on June 20 2020. The scheme aims to provide livelihood opportunities in areas and villages witnessing a large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister had announced that an amount of Rs 50,000 crore would be spent for building durable rural infrastructure under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan.

116 districts, each with a large concentration of returnee migrant workers, have been identified across 6 states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. 

The Abhiyaan will be a convergent effort between 12 different ministries and departments - Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture - to expedite implementation of 25 public infrastructure works and works relating to augmentation of livelihood opportunities.