Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the government has allocated additional Rs 40,000 under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MNREGS) to provide employment boost. The move is expected to generate nearly 300 crore person days in total, Sitharaman said, adding there is an additional need for more work due to returning migrant workers. The government plans to create a larger number of durable and livelihood assets such as water conservation assets so as to boost rural economy.
Earlier this week, Sitharaman had said that Rs 10,000 crore has been spent in the last two months on creating 14.62 crore man-days of work under MNREGS to help migrant workers. Work has been offered to 2.33 crore wage seekers till May 13, Sitharaman had said. Nearly 40-50 per cent more persons have been enrolled as compared to May last year, she had said.
The Finance Minister, in her fourth presser on Saturday, had announced structural reforms in sectors such as coal, minerals, civil aviation, power distribution, defence production, space, and atomic energy sector. The reforms were unveiled as a part of the government's efforts to make India 'Aatmanirbhar' (self-reliant). Sitharaman has already announced four phases of relief measures to support agriculture, MSMEs, migrant workers, individuals, coal mining, defence, aviation sector, among others amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown
Meanwhile, India reported 4,987 fresh coronavirus cases in 24 hours, the highest 1-day spike, with 120 deaths in a day as the country gears to enter its fourth phase of lockdown. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to announce the guidelines of lockdown 4.0 on Sunday.
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