Returning labourers may be deployed for Jal Jeevan Mission work, Jal Shakti Ministry tells States

Arrangement can provide employment to the currently unemployed workers

That a huge demand for work has been created because of returning workers is clear from the fact that allocations under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have already been hiked by ₹40,000 crore over and above the ₹60,000 crore already allocated.

The

flagship programme of the Narendra Modi government in its second avatar, the

Jal Jeevan Mission , or providing piped drinking water to all rural households by 2024, is also being pushed as a way to ameliorate some of the effects of the mass migration of inter-State workers back to their home States in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic .

The Jal Shakti Ministry, the nodal ministry for the implementation of the scheme, has written to various States that returning labour, especially those working in the construction sector (skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled), may be deployed to expedite the completion of works under the scheme, as an arrangement that could provide employment to the currently unemployed workers.

Read | Pipe dreams, ground reality

That a huge demand for work has been created because of returning workers is clear from the fact that allocations under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) have already been hiked by ₹40,000 crore over and above the ₹60,000 crore already allocated. While the MGNREGA is an old programme, the new Jal Jeevan Mission also has funds on its part. “Apart from the ₹11,000 crore in the budget, ₹12,000 crore has been allocated from extra budgetary allowances, not to forget that 50% of the ₹60,750 crore allocated by the 15th Finance Commission for rural local bodies is tied to grants for water bodies and sanitation, some of the key goals of the mission,” said a senior official in the ministry. The total allocation to the scheme is over ₹3 lakh crore.

Skill mapping by various State governments has shown that a majority of inter-State workers returning home are from the construction sector. In Uttar Pradesh alone, 16 lakh out the 18 lakh migrant labour mapped till now are from this sector. The State has assured funding of ₹3,382 crore coming its way under the Jal Jeevan Mission, which, officials say, should be utilised in providing employment in rural areas to returning migrants. Bihar, another big receiver State, has funds ₹2,090 crore available under the scheme.

“While we had tapped the National Skill Development Mission to create a pool of manpower skilled in masonry, plumbing, fitting, electricity etc, there is a growing realisation that returning inter-State labour could be deployed faster due to the prevailing situation. We would like to encourage all States to consider this,” said an official.

As of now, a revalidation exercise of households and status of tap water found that out of 19.04 crore rural households in the country, 3.23 crore households had tap connections and 15.81 crore households had to be provided functional tap connections.