Kolkata: The state Panchayat and Rural Development department has taken steps to provide training to willing migrant labourers to rope them in a 100 days work scheme.
It was found that many of the migrant workers who returned to Bengal due to the nationwide lockdown were not aware of the basic techniques to get engaged into the work of MGNREGA and lacked proficiency. Consequently, the government has taken the step. "We are providing training to the willing migrant workers who returned to the state to help them learn basic techniques to carry out the works under the scheme. There are large sections of migrant workers who never even did such work. So it was becoming difficult to provide them work. Once they pick up the techniques at the field itself, it will not be a problem," said the state Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee.
At present a beneficiary of the scheme gets Rs 204 per day under the "unskilled category". For many of the migrant labourers, the per day income that they get by working under the scheme is lesser compared to that of the daily wage they earn working in their own field they are actually skilled at. Since they have lost their jobs in other states, the Bengal government is leaving no stones unturned to help them.
Till now around 12 lakh migrants returned to Bengal and the state government has successfully created around 7.8 crore mandays work under MGNREGA. It was the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to help migrant workers get work under MGNREGA. In subsequent steps, a large section of migrant workers are already involved in the scheme.
The department is also taking steps to introduce e-learning process for zila parishad and gram panchayat employees to help them pickup knowledge on handling software related to a fund of the 15th Finance Commission. In the second phase of the online training, a refresher course on various aspects of the sector will also be provided to the elected members, mainly women, of panchayats.