Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Narendra Singh Tomar today held a review meeting on the progress of Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan through video-conferencing with the Rural Development Ministers and senior officials of six states. Launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 20^th June 2020, the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan is being undertaken in 116 districts in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. The Abhiyaan will continue for 125 days, and 25 works coming under 11 different ministries have been identified for completion. The Abhiyaan was found to be progressing well under various parameters which are being regularly monitored.

Speaking to the State representatives, the Union Minister said that it is the effort of the Government to provide employment to the migrant workers at their native places. The Abhiyaan is not only providing employment to returning migrants and similarly affected rural citizens, but also strengthening the economy and will saturate villages with public infrastructure and create livelihood opportunities viz. roads, housing, anganwadi centres, panchayat bhavans, various livelihood assets and community complexes among others. He expressed satisfaction at the rate of progress of the special drive by active cooperation between the Centre and the States, and laid emphasis on further accelerating the drive and creation of maximum infrastructure.

Shri Tomar also emphasized on developing a competitive approach among the States to achieve maximum results along with minimizing the hurdles being faced by various ministries in the implementation process so that the set targets are completed within the determined time period. He instructed that the tender process for sanctioning the third phase of rural road construction works under PMGSY should be speeded up as employment will be rapidly generated across all rural areas due to this. He said the drive is an important step towards providing employment to the people on a mission mode.

Speaking about the important measures taken by the Government for the welfare of the people during the crisis caused by coronavirus pandemic, Shri Tomar said that the Union Government has made a provision of an additional Rs. 40,000 crores under MGNREGA. A package of Rs. 20 lakh crores has also been announced under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan. The Government is providing free rations to the poor for about 8 months.

The representatives of the six participating States expressed gratitude to the Union Government for the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan and gave a number of suggestions for its effective implementation. Minister of State for Rural Development of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Anand Swarup Shukla expressed confidence that the set targets would be fully achieved in the state. Bihar Minister Shri Shravan Kumar thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for launching the Abhiyaan from Khagaria district of the State and including the maximum number of 32 districts of Bihar in it, which is proving to be a boon for workers who have returned to their homes during the pandemic. The Union Rural Development Minister assured the State representatives that full consideration would be given to their suggestions.

****

APS/SG