The funds will help the state handle the present situation to some extent, Amarinder Singh said (File)
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has sought immediate financial assistance from the Centre to clear all the pending liabilities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
In a letter to Union minister of Rural Development and Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, he raised the issue of pending wage liabilities of MGNREGA workers in Punjab, according to an official statement on Thursday.
Mr Singh apprised the union minister that as on March 24 wage liabilities of Rs 84 crore were pending for approximately 1.30 lakh workers in the state.
The chief minister pointed out that without the daily wages, the MGNREGA workers will not be able to sustain their families in the prevailing COVID-19 emergency, with no fresh employment opportunities available during the nationwide lockdown.
Expressing concern over the "precarious situation", he urged the Union minister to immediately release the pending wage liabilities without any further delay, to provide the much-needed relief to the beneficiaries for subsistence of their families.
The release of funds will also help the state in handling the present situation to some extent, he said.