Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel cries foul over exclusion from Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan

NEW DELHI: Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel demanded inclusion of his state in Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan, the Modi government’s rural employment generation scheme for migrant labourers who have returned home.
MOdi had launched the Rs 50,000-crore scheme on Saturday which would cover 116 districts across six states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. The migrant labourers would be provided 125 days of work. Baghel has cried foul over Chhattisgarh being excluded from the scheme. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Baghel has written, “States included in the scheme Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha are neighbouring states but Chhattisgarh has been left out. These states are similar to Chhattisgarh in geography, economic and social conditions.”

Baghel has pointed out that 5 lakh migrant labourers have already returned to Chhattisgarh and the inflow has not stopped. “Migrant labourers have returned to their home states as employment avenues have shift in places where they had gone for jobs,” he has written adding that the entire nation has been adversely affected by Covid-19.

Three fourths of the state is extremely backward, the chief minister has pointed out. “About 90 per cent of the total population of Chhattisgarh depends on agriculture and labour work for livelihood comprising unorganised sector, agricultural labourers and marginalised farmers. Bastar and Sarguja division of Chhattisgarh are tribal-dominated and there are also 10 aspirational districts in the state,” Baghel has written. The Chief Minister requested that all the districts of Chhattisgarh be immediately included in the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan to facilitate employment and self-employment of all migrant labourers of the state may have opportunities to earn a living according to their interest and skills.

The government has not included Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal either in the scheme. When this was pointed out in a press conference, addressed by finance minister NIrmala Sitharaman on Friday, rural development secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha had said, “If the state government sends a request to be included in the scheme, it would be considered.”