Kerala is set to become the first State to have a welfare fund for Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) workers. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the Employment Guarantee Workers’ Welfare Fund at a function to be held in Palakkad on May 15. The Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme workers will also be part of the welfare fund.
The Welfare fund, which will provide the workers with pension, medical assistance, educational assistance for their children and other benefits, has been formed as per the Kerala Employment Guarantee Workers’ Welfare Fund Act, 2021. The first meeting of the welfare board was on March 1 this year. The benefits will be for workers who completed the age of 60 and paid contributions continuously.
For those who have paid the contributions for not fewer than 10 years, their families will get the benefits in case of beneficiary’s death. The workers who have completed the age of 60 will be entitled to pension, even though they are allowed to work until the age of 75. The fund also provides medical assistance, educational assistance for children, funds for marriage, and also family benefits. The workers will have to pay a nominal monthly amount of around ₹50 as contribution. The government will contribute an equal amount.
According to information from the MGNREGS State Mission, a total of 24.95 lakh workers from 20.67 lakh families are active currently, with an average of 63 person days of work being provided. As many as 4.49 lakh families got 100 person days of work. The Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme, the first urban employment guarantee scheme in the country, was implemented in the State in 2011. Currently, 3.18 lakh families are registered under the scheme and a total of 41,11,753 person days of work created annually.
