Govt. has come up with Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan (Poor Welfare Employment Scheme) to provide employment in rural areas and reduce the financial stress created due to the nationwide lockdown. The scheme is a merger of 25 govt schemes including housing scheme, providing drinking water through taps, road construction etc. and govt has planned to implement it in 116 districts across 6 states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh). The CG has fixed 125 days target to implement the scheme and a total of 6.7 million guest workers to be provided works in house construction, rural infrastructure development, Anganwadi construction etc (that are a part of 25 govt schemes merged in GKRA) according to their skillset.
The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan is a part of the relief package of 20 Lakh crores announced by the govt last month. The budget of the scheme is 50,000 crores and FM announced on June 18,2020 that the funds will be drawn from the 61,500 crores sanctioned in the Feb Budget 20-21 for providing rural employment. The govt also announced a separate 40,000 crores to provide rural employment but that is not included in it. Since this is a 125-day campaign announced by the govt about 2/3rd of total guest workers would be highly benefitted by the scheme until they return to work in other states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20 launched the GKRA through video conferencing. The scheme is highly welcome since its 125-day campaign provides job opportunities for the guest workers and monetise the poor in this period of the economic slowdown. This would avoid the poor from going for usury interest and being exploited by the landlords.
As mentioned in the previous article Reverse migration - stress in the rural economy, the dignity of the poor would be affected by exploitative jobs and their self-respect would be affected as they go for usury borrowings if there weren't any monetising schemes offered by govt. The govt's GKRA initiative is highly commendable as it provides income support to the guest workers and the opportunity to improve their rural infrastructure.
The centre understands the self-respect of a rural worker, we will make sure that no one in villages need to depend on borrowings during this period. - PM Narendra Modi
Even though it is implemented only in 6 states it covers almost 2/3rd of the migrant workers in rural areas. Also, there are another 40,000 crores sanctioned yet to be used. So, govt may extend the same to other states or it might use that fund for a new scheme that provides job opportunities and income support in rural areas. But this scheme is a 125-day campaign, the guest workers will be engaged in this scheme and this would affect the businesses depending on the guest workers in the states where they worked before. And those businesses will need to deploy new labours and local labours might ask more wages, this would consecutively result in more price of the service or product.
Particularly in the construction business where the client pays before the building is handed over and the contract will be closed. If the building's price increases due to increased wages that would adversely affect the builder. Govt providing good local income opportunities is welcome but free movement of labour and capital would boost economic growth. And since it is a 125-day campaign we could expect after that the workers will return to the states where they were working previously.
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