State Panchayats department to introduce three special schemes to ensure alternative employment for migrants

Kolkata: The state Panchayats department has come up with three special schemes to ensure alternative employment for the migrant workers who cannot be engaged in work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The move comes with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee instructing her officials to engage the migrant labourers in work for assuring some income for them.

"Many of the migrant workers who are presently in the state are skilled and cannot undertake physical labour associated with MGNREGA. So we have come up with three packages that will assure an income of over Rs 4500 a month for these workers," said a senior official of West Bengal Comprehensive Area Development Corporation (CADC), an autonomous organisation under the state Panchayat and Rural Development department.

The first package developed by CADC involves distribution of seedlings at a subsidized rate to these persons so that they can sow seeds of paddy, vegetables etc for cultivation.

This will help them immensely with the sowing season at the doorstep.

The second package will provide assistance to them in taking up backyard fisheries through cement tank/ plastic tank, creation of hanging seed bed, vertical kitchen garden, backward poultry or duckery . Funds will be provided from Backward Development Programme or similar area development programme of the state government.

The third package encourages the labourers in adopting hydroponic technology - a method of growing plants without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Plants that can be grown through this method are tomatoes, parwal,, ridge gourd, cucumber, tomatoes etc. The CADC will also provide ten chickens to each of the labourers under every packages .

A family can be provided with as many as possible schemes.

The material and technical back up will be given to the beneficiaries by CADC. Migrant workers from parts of East and West Midnapore, from Ayodha Hill area in Purulia and Baichi in Hooghly have already been involved in the packages of CADC.

The district administration is preparing a database of the migrant workers of their respective districts.