In the wake of lakhs of migrant workers returning home amid the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a Rs 50,000 crore employment scheme to provide employment to migrant returnees across 116 districts in six states in the country.

PM Mdoi will launch the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) scheme, through a video conference from Khagaria district’s Telihar village in Bihar on June 20. Bihar is slated to go for assembly elections later this year.

‘This campaign of 125 days, which will work in mission mode, will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers on one hand and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country on the other hand, with a resource envelope of Rs. 50,000 crore,’ the government said in a statement on June 19.

‘Government of India together with the State Governments have mapped the districts where these migrant workers have largely returned and it is seen that approximately 116 districts spread over 6 states namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha have received substantial numbers of returnees, which includes 27 Aspirational Districts,’ it added.

The scheme will be a coordinated effort between 12 different Ministries/Departments, namely, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture.

‘The key thing is it is directly tying up with all the migrant workers who have reached their districts…all of them are going to result in asset creation,’ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

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