Meity scheme looking to alleviate migrant labour's pains: Official

"The migrant labour will continue to be an area of concern for the government and we are trying to work with the government to first resolve their identification, enrolment and trying to do something," Dinesh Tyagi said while speaking at an online discussion organised by largest private sector lender HDFC Bank.

Mumbai: CSC e-Governance Services under the Electronics and IT Ministry (Meity) is conducting identification and enrolment of migrant workers through its common service centres (CSC) under a scheme aimed at alleviating the pain of workers, an official said.

While terming the migrant labour issue is an "area of concern" for the government, the official said the Meity is looking at easing the pain of workers through the CSC scheme.

It is starting first with the identification and enrolment of the migrant labour, CSC e-Governance Services India's chief executive Dinesh Tyagi said.

"The migrant labour will continue to be an area of concern for the government and we are trying to work with the government to first resolve their identification, enrolment and trying to do something," Tyagi said while speaking at an online discussion organised by largest private sector lender HDFC Bank.

Tyagi, however, did not spell out the exact details of the work that will be undertaken to alleviate the problems of the migrant workers.

CSC e-governance services is a special purpose vehicle of the ministry which provides a centralised collaborative framework for delivery of services to citizens through CSCs.

Unemployment touched a record high of 2.7 crore as per a think-tank due to the lockdown and migrant workers have been forced to undertake very difficult journeys back to their homes from the cities on foot, bicycle, special trains or congested trucks as a result of the joblessness.

Tyagi said the company has already launched a CSC Grameen Naukri Portal with an objective to connect unskilled labourers with potential employers.

The portal will help reduce the exploitation of labour and get better bargains for the workers, he said.

Meanwhile, Tyagi said the company is also ramping up the network of the CSC Grameen e-stores to have 2 lakh new outlets that work on consumer products' delivery in the rural areas.

He said the ramp-up will create employment for 1 million people, assuming that each such store employs five people and also create a culture of entrepreneurship.

Opportunity for the stores is very high because the Established e-commerce companies do not serve the rural areas, he said, adding that the distribution chains can also help big companies with their logistic needs for the last mile delivery.

With the liberalisation in the agricultural front, where the compulsion for sale of farm products at the agricultural produce market committees or mandis, the company has already started a pilot project called Kisaan e-mart which can be rolled out across the country as well.

HDFC Bank's country head for government and institutional services, Smita Bhagat, said the lender has answered to the government's call of restarting banking services during the lockdown and done transactions involving volumes of over Rs 100 crore through its business correspondent network.

It is also seeing a return of demand for tractors and two-wheelers in the last fortnight, she said.

(PTI Report)