‘Consider making an advance wage payment for 21 days to the registered and active labourers engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which may be adjusted once the work starts at sites’

Ashok Gehlot, @ashokgehlot51 – Chief Minister of Rajasthan:

  • Have written again to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to take urgent steps to empower State Governments.
  • Requested him to announce economic package including grant of Rs one lakh crores for the States without any further delay.
  • I would like to reiterate that our State’s financial condition is rapidly deteriorating due to decline in revenues and the State Government was forced to partially defer the salaries of the State Government employees for this month.
  • The Reserve Bank of India has recently increased the limit of Wage & Means Advance (WMA) by 30%, but not as interest free as requested in the last letter. RBI in such tough times should provide interest free WMA facility to State Govts to effectively deal with #COVID19Pandemic
  • Once again requested to include inter-alia relaxing the borrowing limits of the States; granting moratorium of at least three months in payment of instalments due to RBI and other financial institutions under the Government of India and raising the State Developmental Loans through Government of India in the bond market for onwards leading to respective State Governments.
  • Asked the Government of India to consider giving wage subsidy as done in countries such as Canada, as workers in the unorganised sector are facing loss of their livelihoods.
  • The Garib Kalyan Yojana and Economic Package announced by the Government of India to contain the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 pandemic is a welcome step. Its timely implementation would be in public interest.
  • Requested the GoI to exponentially increase testing facilities to get accurate picture of spread of #coronavirus in country. Once again reiterated that GoI should also put in place the clearly laid down inter-state supply chain protocol for the movement of essential goods.
  • Asked the PM to make arrangements for importing testing kits & PPE for doctors & medical staff on war footing & the same shd be distributed to States based on the number of cases. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare shd certify & fix price for ventilators for ease of buying.
  • Requested to provide food grains at par with National Food Security Scheme beneficiaries to stranded migrant labourers & also to street vendors, rickshaw pullers, registered construction workers (unskilled & semi-skilled) & factory workers of States,who are not covered under NFSS.
  • Also requested to consider making an advance wage payment for 21 days to the registered and active labourers engaged under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which may be adjusted once the work starts at sites.
  • Thanked Shri Modi for taking the State Governments into confidence in the spirit of cooperative federalism, in working out a coordinated and synergised strategy to contain the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, which is the need of the hour.

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