UP govt to set up five-member panel to create employment for returnee labourers

The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday decided to constitute a five-member committee to ensure employment opportunities for migrant labourers who have returned to the state from other parts of the country in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

The move is likely to benefit more than 5 lakh labourers who have come back over the last 45 days, a senior official said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave directions for setting up the committee while reviewing the lockdown situation at his official residence here, a statement issued by the state government said.

The committee will be headed by the agriculture production commissioner and include the principal secretaries of departments of rural development; panchayati raj; micro, small and medium enterprises; and skill development, it said.

"Following the imposition of the nationwide lockdown since March 25, there has been a problem of unemployment for rickshaw pullers, e-rickshaw operators, cart pullers, railway coolies and daily wage ...