Non-payment of MGNREGA wages increased migration of rural poor to urban areas: Cong

New Delhi: A Congress member on Wednesday complained that non-payment of MGNREGA wages since May has acutely increased migration of rural poor to urban areas and wanted government to immediately intervene to arrest the trend. [caption id=“attachment_1832615” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Congress in Lok Sabha raised the issue of non-payment of MGNREGA wages. PTI[/caption] Raising the matter during Zero Hour, Ranjit Ranjan said that the gravity of the problem could be guaged from the fact that from the Kosi range of Bihar, as many as four lakh rural poor have migrated in search of livelihood. Earlier the migration used to be less than 50,000, she said, making a strong plea for making available funds to the state for implementation of the rural job guarantee scheme. Ravneet Singh, also of the Congress, made a strong plea for more funds under the National Rabies Control Programme contending that India ranked the highest in deaths due to dog bites. He said as many as 30,000 people die annually because of rabies and 35 percent of them were from India. Vinayak Baburao Raut (Shiv Sena) demanded expeditious steps to change the name of Bombay High Court to Mumbai High Court before the upcoming Republic Day. He said the issue was being raised since 2008 and the Maharashtra government has been writing to the Centre to implement it. Earlier, the Chief Minister had also met the Union Law Minister but no step was taken. PP Mohammed Faizal (Congress) asked the government to expedite scholarships for students and children residing in Lakshadweep, saying these were being “unduly delayed not because of paucity of funds but due to administrative laxity.” The entire population of the island territory was categorised as scheduled tribe and all students were eligible for free education and scholarships which were being “inordinately delayed”, he said. BJP member Jagdambika Pal demanded that anganwadi workers, who were getting varied pays in different states, should be granted the status of permanent employees of state governments and made eligible for post-retirement pension. SPM Gowda (Congress) expressed concern over alarming depletion of ground water in various parts of the country. He wanted urgent steps to recharge the ground water through various means to avert a serious crisis of drinking water availability in the country. AP Jithender Reddy (TRS) wanted the Cotton Corporation and Food Corporation of India to set up centres in Telangana. Dhananjay Mahadik (NCP) sought Rs 2,300 crore for Kolhapur under Heritage Development Plan saying the district town in western Maharashtra was a pilgrim centre and has several medieval monuments, but was facing an acute crisis of infrastructure. Shashi Tharoor (Congress) made a strong plea for a direct flight between New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram, lamenting that though the Kerala capital was having direct flights to several Gulf countries, it was not so with the national capital. He was immediately supported by members from Kerala. PTI