"MANAGING MANOEUVRE” - Taking down bull by the horns

In an attempt to employee the diversified unskilled workforce & make India Atmanirbhar schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (GKY) plays an important role.

With prevailing level of uncertainties regarding the migration of workforce from urban areas to rural areas, the need of the hour is to provide employment in the home state of migrant itself. In order to do so what is required is that the government schemes should work at full swing overcoming their lethargic functioning over the years.

Over the past year’s there was a huge shift of workforce from rural to urban section of the society, in this pandemic there is a opportunity for the government to ensure enough livelihood for the rural workforce in their areas only. This step will not only create a balance employment opportunities in the country but also reduce the burden on the urban areas as it is visible that over the past few years the pressure on public facilities whether transport or any other is very high & some of the structures are on the verge of collapse.

As per the recent announcement by the central government, it can be seen that government is willing to spend additional Rs. 40,000 cr., in MGNREGS in order to provide an employment boost. This much amount will help in:-

1. Generating nearly 300cr. Person days in total

2. Providing employment in the monsoon season as well

3. Creating durable & livelihood assets incl. water conservation assets

4. Boosting higher productivity in the rural sectors

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme covers almost entire country except districts that have 100% urban population. This scheme serves as a tool of financial inclusion as well as social security for more than 4.5 cr. people in India. The government spending is also increasing every year, which shows that there is high dependency of population on the same.

In order to digitize the whole economy various steps have been taken by the government in order to digitize this regime as well. Digitizing the paper bound records, Geo MNREGA for electronically tagging assets in public domain, electronic funds transfer & various other steps have helped in ensuring the effectiveness & efficiency of schemes like these.

It is the duty of government to ensure enough employment opportunities in the country as no one wants to leave their home for work unless there is a shortage of work in the area.