Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday announced that the number of people being employed under MGNREGA will double and reach the 50 lakh mark in Uttar Pradesh by the end of this month.

"Uttar Pradesh is one of the leaders in giving employment under MGNREGA. Till yesterday we were giving employment to approximately 25 lakh persons daily through the scheme. According to my estimate by the end of this month we will take this number to 50 lakh," Adityanath said on Thursday.

The UP CM had earlier revealed that approximately 12 lakh workers have returned to the state and the state government is expecting about a total of 25 lakh migrant workers to return from across the country.

"Till now 12 lakh migrant workers have returned to us, I think 10 lakh more migrant workers will return in the coming days. Close to 25 lakh migrant workers will return to Uttar Pradesh. Among these there will be drivers, plumbers, tailors, and other very skilled persons working in various fields," he said.

Earlier today, the CM had handed over cheques to people involved in the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector as part of the state's online loan initiative.

The Uttar Pradesh government started the loan fair today for the MSME sector under which businesses can get loans online. "I express my gratitude towards Prime Minister and the Finance Minister for announcing the package and MSME Department for coordinating with state-level bankers committee and distributing loans worth Rs 2002 crore in one go to 56,754 beneficiaries," he had said.

(With agency inputs)

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