PRAHAR calls for industrial growth in remote regions for poverty alleviation

New Delhi: PRAHAR (Public Response Against Helplessness and Action for Redressal), an NGO dedicated towards finding solutions for problems of the helpless, today called for a comprehensive national strategy targeting accelerated

industrial growth in remote regions of India to bring relief to workforce which has receded there because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This call-for-action is part of the NGO's recently launched 'National Movement for Livelihood Resurrection' campaign in the COVID-19 era.

Commenting on the subject, Abhay Raj Mishra, President and National Convenor, PRAHAR said, "Covid-19 lockdowns have led to unprecedented reverse migration of workers in India. Also, the pandemic has caused mass-scale destruction of livelihoods in urban regions. Instead of continuing to push for industrial growth in corridors near urban centres, we need to incentivize expansion and setting up of new industries in remote regions with abundant labour workforce. There is statistical evidence that one organized sector direct employment in a poor region triggers 10 or more new indirect livelihoods as compared to only average 4 livelihoods in developed regions. Therefore, this is an opportune time for India to also adopt a reverse industrialization strategy to compliment reverse migration of its workforce."

"Today, there are examples of how a single industrial project, delivered well, can uplift the socio-economic condition of the entire region. We need to learn from these and emulate them for a rapid scale-up", he added.