Migrant workers returning to village getting work under MGNREGA in Odisha's Jajpur

Migrant workers who have returned to their native villages amid coronavirus-induced lockdown are getting employment under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme in different blocks of Jajpur district in Odisha.

"I was working as a carpenter in Bihar and due to lockdown, I had come back. I have been working here for the last 6 days," Subash Sahu, a laborer told .

"As everything was closed, where I used to work, I became jobless and I was facing financial problems there. I had gone there to earn, but when earning got stopped what would I have done there. At last, I returned to my home with uncertainty. MGNREGA gave me a ray of hope and I thank the government for this," he added.

PD, DRDA of Jajpur, Indram Nayak said that a total of 2,916 projects under MGNREGA are going on in the district.

"This year Jajpur has taken a lead to implement MGNREGA. The total number of projects in the district is 2,916. These projects include the renovation of tanks, plantation works and water harvesting structures. Chief Minister Navin Pattanaik directed to give jobs to 20 lakhs people daily. So each district has targetted to give daily employment to 35,425 people. We have also given priorities to returnees, those who are interested," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )