OdishaPlus Bureau
As many as 116 senior bureaucrats have been appointed as central nodal officers for achieving objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, the government’s ambitious employment-cum-rural public works campaign for migrant workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic. These bureaucrats of the level of Joint Secretary are drawn from different services, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Forest Service (IFoS) among others.
“The nodal officers will work in close collaboration with state government officials and district magistrates/collectors/deputy commissioners as per the guidelines of the Abhiyaan, being issued by the Department of Rural Development separately,” an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. Nodal officers would be required to discharge their duties through VCs, digital maps, etc, details of which may be confirmed from the Department of Rural Development, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the campaign with an objective to empower and provide livelihood opportunities in areas/villages witnessing a large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officers Vivek Aggarwal and Hari Ranjan Rao have been appointed nodal officers for the state’s Bhind and Alirajpur districts. Aggarwal and Rao are posted as Joint Secretary in the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, and the Department of Telecommunications, respectively. IAS officer Partha Sarthi Sensharma has been appointed as the central nodal officer for Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi district. He is at present Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Senior bureaucrat Abhishek Singh will be the nodal officer for Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district. Singh is the Chief Executive Officer of MyGov India, the government’s citizen-centric online platform. Subodh Kumar Singh has been made a nodal officer for UP’s Ayodhya district. Singh, a 1997 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, is at present Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA) of 125 days will involve focused implementation of 25 categories of works/activities in 116 districts, each with a large concentration of returnee migrant workers in six states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Odisha.