Out of the 1,75,880 migrants who have registered for returning to Uttarakhand from other States, 18,156 had been brought back by Friday afternoon. Chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said this while briefing the media here on Friday.
He said that about 20,000 people from other States, stranded in Uttarakhand have also registered to return to their home States. Of these, 4,780 have been sent back. Further, work is being undertaken on a plan to bring back 8,700 people from Gurugram. Talks have already been held with the Railway Ministry and State Governments concerned to bring back Uttarakhandis by train from Ahmedabad, Surat, Pune and Kerala. The State Government’s control room call centre has so far received more than 45,000 calls, he added.
Singh informed that the State Government is also concerned about employment for migrant Uttarakhandis returning to the state. On the directions of the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the Mukhyamantri Swarozgar Yojana has been approved on the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Swarozgar Yojana. Loan and grant has been facilitated for those wanting to do their own work it the construction and service sectors under this scheme. Similarly, other schemes are also being considered by the government.
Singh further said that Rawat had directed that the differently abled employees should not be called to government offices in normal conditions. He recalled that as per guidelines regarding attendance of government employees during the third phase of the lockdown, among women employees, those who are pregnant or have children aged below 10 years and employees aged above 55 years are not being called to office in normal circumstances.
The chief secretary further informed that 307 works have been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. About 16,600 personnel and labourers will be deployed for these works. Referring to the ongoing forest fire season, he said that weather and other factors have led to a considerable drop in forest fires this year.
Till this time during the previous year, 351 hectare of forests had been affected by 298 forest fire incidents. However, in the corresponding period this year 18 incidents of forest fires have affected 11 hectare area. About 6,700 forest watchers are on duty, he added. Considering the possibility of water scarcity during the summer, 801 rural and 347 urban settlements have been identified. Tankers and other arrangements are being made to ensure water supply in these settlements.
In the industrial sector, the state government has granted permission to 4,747 industries to resume operations. About 1.75 lakh workers will get jobs in these industrial units with many of the units already having resumed operations.