Berhmapur: Even as migrant workers continue to pour in from various states to Ganjam, cases of COVID-19 are fast rising. Four more positive cases were detected in the district Friday.
On the other hand, making provisions for their earning has become a challenge for the administration which has been mulling over multiple initiatives to provide livelihood.
With four new cases, the total number of positive cases went up to 398 while three infected people have died. Though the number of recovery cases is rising, there is a corresponding rise in the number of infected cases also. Most of the infected cases are Surat returnees.
Meanwhile, over 1 lakh non-resident migrant workers have returned to the district while thousands are scheduled to arrive in the district in coming days from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
A further rise in the cases is inevitable, it is said. With the returnees arriving in buses and trains without maintaining social distance, fears of the spread in COVID cases are rising in certain areas.
Despite the administration putting in place necessary precautionary measures, many returnees have escaped quarantine and reached their native villages. Besides, relatives and family members of the migrant workers visited them at quarantine centres
It is said that over eight lakh workers of the district are in Surat and Mumbai.
Thos who have returned are said to be unwilling to migrate outside the state. They are seeking scope of earning in the district.
The district administration is seriously thinking over this issue. Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, who presided over the district advisory committee Thursday, underscored the need for providing loans to the returnees for agriculture and the SMSME sector.
Kulange Thursday directed the agriculture, horticulture, livestock departments and bank authorities to set up camps to provide loans to migrants as needed.
The meeting was attended by officials of various departments like agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and officials of Andhra Bank and NABARD. The Collector unveiled the Annual Loan Scheme for 2020-21 fiscal at the meeting.
Kulange observed that livelihood of people was severely affected by the lockdown. Farmers should be given scope to earn a good living and through small and medium enterprises, he noted. He directed the bank officials to visit each panchayat and understand how people will earn money.
This year, the district has set a target of providing loans to the tune of Rs 6,312.98 crore. Rs 2,995.07 crore is earmarked for the agriculture sector while Rs 2,151.73 crore is meant for small and medium enterprises.
PNN