Increase workdays under MGNREGA in Chhattisgarh, demands BJP

The opposition BJP in Chhattisgarh has demanded an increase in the number of workdays under MGNREGA from 100 days to 150 days in view of the scarcity of livelihood options for the rural population during the ongoing crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak. The Congress government should come to the help of laborers who do not have any other option of getting employment in the prevailing circumstances, the party said.

Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik on Thursday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, seeking an increase in the number of workdays under the rural jobs scheme. The state government should immediately take a decision to increase workdays under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the interest of rural households, Kaushik said.

The rural employment guarantee scheme promises 100 days of work every year to rural households as per the Centres provision. "Several laborers in the state have completed their 100 days of employment but now they are jobless and facing an economic crisis, he said.

During the previous BJP government, 50 days of additional employment were being provided under the scheme. In the present circumstances, laborers don't have any other option of getting employment, he said.

Kaushik demanded that the state government provide an additional 50 days of employment through its own resources. Notably, Baghel had earlier this month urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase 100 days of employment fixed under MGNREGA to 200 days.