Gujarat introduces Rs 10 meals for construction workers at 84 locations

The Gujarat Chief Minister has launched the Shramik Annapurna Yojana on July 18. The programme was introduced by the state government with the aim to provide 1,700 calories per meal by make available one nutritious meal to labourers for Rs 10 every day. The government has allotted Rs 50 crore for this programme. The yojana was launched across 84 locations in the state and covers almost 40 types of labourers and nearly 25,000 workers who can avail this scheme. Food stalls under this programme have been opened in various districts including Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, and Valsad. The government has collaborated with several NGOs to prepare meals at centralised kitchen facilities. Each meal costs Rs 30 but will be available at a subsidised rate of Rs 10 to the construction workers. The objective of this newly launched programme is to aid migrant workers who lack the basic and necessary infrastructure required to cook their own meals. The scheme is available to all workers registered with the construction and labour welfare board. Reports reveal that the number of registered workers in the Gujarat has increased from 47,000 in 2014 to 563,000 in 2017.