SHILLONG, June 8: Shillong MP and Congress leader Vincent H Pala has pushed Centre for release of adequate funds to Meghalaya in order to provide assistance to daily wage earners, cab drivers, skilled and unskilled labourers, domestic workers and others employed in the unorganised sector in the state which would enable them to tide over these trying times.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pala referred to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, a programme under which the Centre had announced an amount of Rs 20 lakh crore to tide the country over the present crisis.
In the letter, the MP also apprised the Prime Minister about how this section of workers was not provided any financial assistance by the state government since last year.
Recalling that the central government had released Rs 20,000 crore under PM Kisan for the benefit of 9.5 crore farmers across the country, Pala informed the Prime Minister that out of the total beneficiaries who received the financial assistance this year, only 8,967 farmers from Meghalaya have received the benefit.
“According to the data available, only 8,967 farmers from Meghalaya received the direct benefit transfer installment at the rate of Rs 2,000 each amounting to Rs 1,79,34,000, the lowest amongst all the Northeastern states,” he said.
Stating that 85 per cent of the population of Meghalaya comprises farmers, Vincent Pala said, “If only 8,967 farmers have been provided financial assistance under this flagship programme by the Government of India, then it has done a grave injustice to the farmers of this state”.
Urging the Prime Minister to consider enhancing the financial assistance to the farmers, he said that this is the peak season of harvest for them but because of the lockdown, the farmers have been facing tremendous hardships with regard to arranging manpower and machinery to facilitate the process.
The Congress MP informed the PM that normally during this season, cash crops are harvested in high magnitude in the state and the returns amount to crores of rupees.
He added, “It is sad to state here that the state government has not made enough efforts to provide marketing facilities and linkages to sell their produce”.
He also stated that most of the farmers in Meghalaya engage labourers, who they have been not been able to pay presently and that has rendered most of them out of jobs and struggling to make ends meet.
