Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan on Saturday to boost livelihood opportunities in rural India. The Prime Minister will launch the campaign through video-conference in the presence of Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar. The campaign will be launched from Telihar village at Beldaur Block in Khagaria district of Bihar. It aims to provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens.

Briefing media about the scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojana with an outlay of  50 thousand crore rupees will cover 116 districts in six States, namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan. She said, workers from all over the country wanted to go back to villages after the lockdown began and Central and State governments made some arrangements, and they have gone back. The Minister said, the government looked at the districts to which they have largely returned.

She said, the Centre and State governments have meticulously mapped the skill sets of the migrant workers who have returned in large numbers to the 116 districts.  The Minister said, everyone who needs an assignment in these districts will be given work under the Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan. Ms Sitharaman said, the campaign will involve intensified and focused implementation of 25 different types of works to provide employment to the migrant workers and create infrastructure in the rural regions of the country.

The Minister said, nearly 25 schemes of the Central government are being brought together under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan for 116 districts. She said, the objectives under these schemes will be achieved within 125 days, by offering work to migrant workers and rural citizens.