Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to allow the State to use the MGNREGA fund and release the unemployment allowance to the accounts of MGNREGA active workers of the State.
The Chief Minister in his letter dated March 28, while stressing that poor people, particularly MGNREGA workers, have been "badly affected" due to the 21-days lockdown, said: "I would, therefore, request you to kindly consider the above proposal and allow the State to use the MGNREGA fund and release the unemployment allowance to the account of the MGNREGA active workers of Odisha."
The Chief Minister said in Odisha, there are 36,10,797 active workers during the current year who are deprived of getting work under MGNREGA due to the lockdown.
"To protect their livelihood, an amount of Rs 380.39 crore, which is one-fourth of the wage rate as per the MGNREG Act may be sanctioned as unemployment allowance that will certainly help them to mitigate their sufferings during this lockdown period, as we are not in a position to give them work," the letter read.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day lockdown on Tuesday in order to curb the spread of coronavirus that had killed several thousands globally.
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