In view of the 21-day nationwide lockdown for COVID-19, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the State Government to provide unemployment allowance to MNNREGA workers during the lockdown period while utilising the MNNREGA fund.
In a letter to the PM, Patnaik stated that there are 36,10,797 active workers in the State during the current year, who have been deprived of getting work under MGNREGA due to the lockdown.
He requested the PM to allow the State Government to utilise Rs 380.39 crore from the MGNREGA fund to provide an unemployment allowance for 21 days.
“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 stated.