Railways generate upwards of 5.5 lakh man-days of work under Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan

More than 5.5 lakh man-days of work has been generated by the Railways under Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan in six states so far, the Ministry of Railways said on Sunday.

The six states in which work was generated include Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal is monitoring the progress made in these projects and for the generation of work opportunities for the migrant labourers of these states under the scheme. Around 165 Railway infrastructure projects are being executed in these states worth Rs 2,988 crore.

Till August 14, 11,296 workers have been engaged in the GKRA and the payment of Rs 1336.84 crores has been released to the contractors for the projects being implemented, according to a release.

Goyal has ordered nodal officers appointed on both the district and state level to ensure migrant labourers are engaged in projects and timely payment is provided to them.

The Gareeb Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan had been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June to empower and provide livelihood opportunities in areas/ villages witnessing large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scheme of 125 days involves the focused implementation of 25 categories of work/ activities in 116 districts, each with a large concentration of returnee migrant workers in the six states.

( With inputs from ANI )