Union Labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge conferred the V V Giri Memorial Award 2009 to Prof. Ravi Srivastva of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on Tuesday.Addressing the media, the minister said that the innovative initiatives of the Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act has considerably reduced the distress labour migration from the backward regions of the country.He also expressed the UPA government's commitment to provide the better work and living conditions to the workers. The award contains a citation and a cash prize of rupees 1 lakh and has been instituted by the V V Giri National Labour Institute, in the mark of respect to the former president of India.