Unemployment rate at the end of 2020 stood at 9 per cent, which is too high to be filled up in near future. The budgetary support to business and industries are too little to substantially improve the situation. We are at such a level of joblessness despite the opening of almost all the sectors of the economy. Due to lack of job opportunities only a fraction of migrant workers could return to their old working places, and most of them will run pillar to post to get a job even on very low wages below the minimum wages applicable in that place or for the category of jog.

In this context, to reduce the poverty levels prevalent among the migrant workers, the budget has announced a scheme of “one country, one ration card”. It has been presumed that the migrant workers could get their ration from any fair price shop on their ration cards.

However, one should keep in mind, that majority of migrant workers live in slums, shanties, small crowded rooms, or in tents. They do not have facilities to even store the food grains in their houses for a month. The little amount of money with them does not allow them to store larger quantity either. They purchase small quantity of food items and consume it daily.

However, the fair price shops in India presently supply food grains for the whole month at a time not little by little on daily basis. The system is thus not likely to work for them without a suitable change. Thus, this scheme could also help only a fraction of migrant workers.

Affordable rental housing projects were announced earlier for the migrant workers, the progress of which has been very dismal. Such notified projects have been exempted from tax to ensure a roof over the migrant workers. How many housing units would be available to how many migrant workers in how much time is at present not known. The budget did not care to mention it. It is also not know how many unknown migrant workers engages in informal sector could avail this facilities.