MNREGS turns job spinner for migrants in UP

LUCKNOW: Two days after chief minister Yogi Adityanath pitched for creation of 50 lakh jobs every day under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (MNREGS), the rural development department galloped to the halfway mark of 26 lakh jobs, essentially for migrants who returned to UP following the lockdown.
According to rural development department data, number of new jobs dramatically rose 26 times over a 20-day span from 1.46 lakh on April 21 to 26.29 lakh on Thursday.
The biggest leap recorded on May 1 was coincidentally world labour day, when more than 2 lakh MNREGS jobs were generated. The graph, however, dipped on May 11, when 36,000 jobs were provided under the flagship scheme.
Confirming the trend, additional commissioner Yogesh Kumar said, MNREGS was turning out to be the biggest job-spinner during the lockdown. “We are looking forward to raising the mandays to touch the 50-lakh mark in days to come,” he told TOI. Grassroots data show the number of gram panchayats, where work under the flagship scheme was planned, had swelled from 9,343 on April 21 to 46,405 on Thursday. This was a 5-time jump within 20 days. Rural development department officials said, 79% gram panchayats have already been covered under MNREGS.
Statistics buttress the fact that rural development department began work under MNREGS in a graded fashion. While in covid green zones comprising 20 districts, MNREGS works were conducted in 13,265 gram panchayats, in 36 districts under orange zone, work was conducted in 24,482 gram panchayats. Likewise, in red zone (10 districts), work under the scheme was taken up in 8,658 panchayats.
The largest number of 1,08,929 labourers were engaged in east UP district of Siddharthnagar under MNREGS. This was followed by Lakhimpur Kheri, Maharajganj, Ghazipur and Azamgarh, where at least 95,000 labourers were employed by the rural development department.