BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the labour budget of Odisha under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to 25 crore person days in 2021-22.
This has been necessitated as significant number of returnee migrants have stayed back due to reduced level of economic activities during the pandemic and rise in demand for wage employment under MGNREGS, the Chief Minister said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
He also requested the Prime Minister to release pending amount of Rs 1088 crore soon in order to ensure timely payment of wages to workers under the scheme. He said that the Rs 1088.72 crore liabilities including Rs 377.91 crore as wage component and Rs 710.81 crore as material component are pending under MGNREGS for Odisha.
Appreciating the Centre’s measures for economic revival of rural areas in the post-Covid pandemic period, the Chief Minister said timely payment of wages to the poor job seekers is the fundamental guarantee under MGNREGA. Similarly, timely release of payment for material component is critical for creation of tangible and durable assets under MGNREGS, he added.
He requested the Prime Minister to advise the Ministry of Rural Development for timely release of funds for wage and material payment under MGNREGS.