New Delhi: The government on Friday reported that more than one crore migrant workers went back to their states during the Kovid-19 epidemic and the subsequent lockdown and several measures have been taken to address the difficulties of migrant workers. Labor and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar gave this information in a written reply to the question of Kanimoi Karunanidhi in Lok Sabha.
According to the details of the number of migrant workers returned to the home state in the House, 32,49,638 migrant workers returned to Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, 15,00,612 in Bihar, 13,84,693 in West Bengal, and 13,08,130 migrant workers returned in Rajasthan. According to government figures, 7,53,581 migrant workers returned in Madhya Pradesh, 5,30,047 in Jharkhand, 5,15,642 in Punjab, 4,26,441 migrant workers in Assam.
Gangwar said that the Ministry set up 20 control rooms across the country to resolve complaints of migrant workers during the lockdown. During the lockdown, more than 15 thousand complaints of workers were resolved through these control rooms. He said that due to the intervention of the ministries, more than two lakh workers were paid wages amounting to about Rs 295 crore.
The minister said that till now Rs. 5000 crore have been provided to 1.83 crore construction sector workers directly in their bank accounts from buildings and other construction workers cess fund being constructed by various states. He said that under MGNREGA, daily wages were increased from Rs 182 to Rs 202.
Gangwar said that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana has been launched in 116 districts as part of the campaign to facilitate the employment of migrant workers who have returned to their home states. He said that information related to suicide of migrant workers is being collected from the state governments.
