Migrant labourers who have returned to their native state Uttar Pradesh from various parts of the country during the COVID-19-induced lockdown, are being given work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
Labourers who returned to Lakhimpur Kheri in the State from Gujarat, Jharkhand and Delhi say they were provided work under the MNREGA scheme.
Most of the labourers that ANI spoke to said they are now able to earn living and take care of their families.
"I used to work in Delhi's Madipur. I came back here after the lockdown was imposed. I got work under MNREGA and now I am able to earn living for my family," a labourer said.
Speaking to ANI, another labourer said, "I came here from Gujarat after the lockdown. I got work under MNREGA and I am also getting free ration. I work regularly."
The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic has had an adverse impact on the workforce in general and migrant workers in particular. A large number of migrant workers returned to several states. In Uttar Pradesh, nearly 30 lakh migrant workers have returned. Thirty-one districts of Uttar Pradesh have more than 25,000 returnee migrant workers.
MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.