BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday provided a special Covid package of Rs 352 crore to workers engaged under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
A MGNREGS worker was paid Rs 50 more than the daily wage for the three-month period from April to June. Every worker received additional wage of Rs 4,500 under the scheme. The money was deposited in the bank accounts of 32 lakh workers.
The Chief Minister asked the district administrations to provide livelihood opportunities to the workers by creating more mandays under MGNREGS. The Chief Minister had announced a package of Rs 1,690 crore for weaker sections of people on June 18 which also included Rs 352 crore for the workers.
Official sources said 20 crore mandays were created during 2020-21. So far, seven crore mandays have been created during the current financial year which is 40 per cent more than the corresponding period last year. During the year, more than 32.18 lakh people were provided jobs under the MGNREGS for which Rs 1,448.79 crore wage was paid.
Stating that the financial assistance will help the families of the workers, he announced that such initiatives by the government will continue. As lockdowns and shutdowns have severely affected livelihood of the people, the government had also announced a package to provide sustenance to the poor and weaker sections, he added.
Cautioning the people that Covid-19 is yet to be over, the Chief Minister requested all to sincerely abide by the guidelines. He interacted with some of the workers from Ganjam, Koraput, Kalahandi and Mayurbhanj districts.