Some walked down all the way as the public transport system was completely shut. And some waited for the government’s Shramik Special Trains & buses to reach their homes. But even after coming back and completing the institutional quarantine of 14 days, their struggle continued. No jobs, no income, no food was testing their level of tolerance.The relief kits provided by some NGOs eased out the extreme adversity for a few days. But that did not meet the nutrition level that a family needs to have. After the unlock phase getting started in the country, though some of the workers went back to the cities from where they came, but some stayed back and wanted to try their luck at their native. Under MGNREGS, in order to enhance the livelihood in the rural communities, wage employment was then given to these people so that they get an opportunity to earn for themselves. Conscious of the fact that livelihoods of these workers is as tough as the containment of corona virus infection, the Chief Minister of Odisha – Sri Naveen Pattnayak in the end of April, announced a doubling of the number of jobs offered under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to 10 lakh in place of the 5 lacs employment provided earlier with a target to ramp up the work to 20 lacs per day as early as possible. With the meltdown of economy & shrinking of GDP to the lowest ever, it’s interesting to see what steps are being taken by the government to ensure giving a better life to destitute & deprived section of the society.