New Delhi, Sep 20 (UNI) Indian Railways has generated 9,79,557 mandays of work till September 18 for the migrant laboures under the Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan in six States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Till September 18, 12,276 workers have been engaged in this Abhiyaan and payment of Rs 2,056.97 crore released to the contractors for the projects being implemented. Around 164 railway infrastructure projects are being executed in these states under this Abhiyaan of 125 days
in mission mode, involving focused implementation of 25 categories of works/activities in 116 districts, each with a large concentration of returnee migrant workers in these six states, an official release here said.
The public works being undertaken during this campaign will have a resource envelope of Rs 50,000 crore . Mr Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, is closely monitoring the progress made in these projects and generation of work opportunities for the migrant labours of these states under this scheme.
Railway has appointed nodal officers in each district as well as in the States so that a close coordination is established with the state government. Railways has identified a number of railway works which are being executed under this scheme related to construction and maintenance of approach roads for level crossings; development & cleaning of silted waterways, trenches and drains along the track; construction and maintenance of approach road to railway stations; repair and widening of existing railway embankments/cuttings; plantation of trees at extreme boundary of railway land and protection works of existing embankments/cuttings/bridges. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a massive employment-cum-rural public works campaign named Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan to empower and provide livelihood opportunities in areas/villages witnessing large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the devastating Covid-19 on June 20. The Prime Minister announced that an amount of Rs 50,000 crores would be spent for building durable rural infrastructure under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan.
The Abhiyaan is a convergent 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, to expedite implementation of 25 public infrastructure works and works relating to augmentation of livelihood opportunities.
