No higher scheme than NREGS for sustainable livelihood of unskilled staff: House panel

Commending the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, a parliamentary standing committee has stated that there is no such thing as a “better scheme” to offer “sustainable livelihood” to unskilled staff.
The Standing Committee on Labour, headed by BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab, stated, “The Committee are of the firm opinion that there is no better Scheme than the MGNREGS to provide sustainable livelihood to the unskilled workers including the inter-state migrant labourers.”
“In fact, by enacting the MGNREGA Law in 2005, the Indian Parliament had set in motion a process that provides for a specific and significant welfare provision, constitutive of the very idea of citizenship,” the committee stated in its report on ‘Social Security and Welfare Measures for Inter-State Migrant Workers’, which was tabled within the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The committee’s observations come at a time when the NREGS has emerged as the protection internet for returnee migrant labourers through the coronavirus pandemic. Over 7 crore households (10.43 crore people) have already availed of the scheme and 330 crore persondays have been created until February 11 through the present monetary 12 months — the best for any 12 months since inception of the scheme in 2006.
The report reveals that 1.08 crore migrant staff returned to their residence states through the pandemic.
The committee stated, “The absence of reliable and authentic data/information on the numbers of migrant workforce and their movement back to their home States following the outbreak of the Pandemic has apparently impacted the relief and rehabilitation measures.”
“The Committee note that a number of appreciable initiatives have been launched by the Government, which are aimed at benefiting the Migrant Labour. The Committee, however, note in this regard that neither any guidelines were issued nor enforced for distribution of relief material to stranded Migrant Labourers. Also, there has been no element of Social Audit prescribed,” the report stated.

“In short, since without identification and collation of data of the inter-State migrant workers no social security Scheme can be effectively extended to them, the Committee exhort the Ministry to persuade the native as well as the destination States to identify, collect and periodically update the record of such workers,” the committee additional stated.
“The Committee hope that the Covid-19 Pandemic and the resultant challenges and lacunae observed in the system in the distribution of instant and immediate relief to the needy migrant labours are duly taken note of and appropriate lessons learned to iron out the systemic flaws and inadequacies so as to strengthen the preparedness to effectively deal with any such emergent situations,” it stated.
“The Committee further urge that a credible database of unorganized workers especially that of migrant labourers be put in place with a sense of urgency so as to ensure seamless delivery of relief packages to them at the time of distress,” it added.