Malkangiri: Even as COVID has been spreading across Malkangiri, frequent lockdowns and shutdowns have worsened the plight of daily wagers and returnee migrants for lack of scope for livelihood.
The district administration is struggling to provide livelihood and income-generation activities for them. Meanwhile, over 16,000 migrant workers from various states have returned to the district.
The state government has asked the district administration to create jobs under MGNREGS. To alleviate the miseries of migrant workers in urban areas, the district administration has sanctioned 61 projects under the rural job scheme.
The administration aims to ensure work scope for 22,000 more workers in near future while the state government has sanctioned Rs 128.05 crore for these projects.
These projects are being executed in Malkangiri municipality area and Balimela NAC. The projects entail works like road-side plantation, pond excavation, construction of cement tanks, creation of greenery on vacant government land, water conservation through check dams, wall paintings for awareness, carpentry, conservation of groundwater, and vegetable cultivation under nutrition garden programme.
The state government had directed the administration to ensure that migrants get scope of income generation and timely payment of wages.
Collector Manish Agrawal has approved 61 projects and allocated funds. All these projects are being executed under the supervision of PD (DRDA) Balmukunda Bhuyan.
Now, migrant workers are seen working in these projects in lockdown period. It was learnt that 4,000 workers have been paid Rs 12.04 lakh as wages till date.
The PD said that the plan has been made to ensure work scope for 22,000 workers in near future while the state government has sanctioned Rs 128.05 crore for these projects.
The administration has been trying to engage labourers in the projects being executed by the road and the buildings department, the rural development department, the rural water supply and sanitation department, the horticulture department and in the projects pertaining to digging of farm ponds.
It was leant that under rural housing scheme, the administration has set a target to build 23,294 houses in the district in the current year while the administration underscored the need for creating work scope for rural people and migrants in the housing project and construction sectors.
PNN