Odisha Govt to Provide Rs 500 Cr ‘State Support to MGNREGA’ Scheme to Check Distress Migration

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to provide Rs 500 crore as ‘State Support to MGNREGA’ scheme to check distress migration of workforce from the state. This ‘State Support to MGNREGS’ will be taken up in the 20 migration-prone blocks of four districts in western Odisha, reported The Statesman.

“An amount of Rs. 500 crore has been earmarked as State support to the MGNREGA scheme to provide employment in existing 20 migration-prone blocks of Balangir, Bargarh, Nuapada, and Kalahandi districts. In this financial year, it is proposed to extend this support to a few more Blocks where rural people migrate out of distress,” The Statesman quoted a senior official of Odisha’s Finance Department.

This measure of the Odisha government will benefit job cardholders in 500 panchayats of 20 blocks in Bolangir, Nuapada, Bargarh, and Kalahandi.

Due to lack of employment opportunities and agrarian activities, labourers from these backward areas of Odisha migrate to other states in search of jobs. They are usually exploited by their employers in outside Odisha. Every year, around one thousand cases of torture and exploitation of migrant Odia labourers are reported.