Delhi government can gift free bus travel and insurance facility to lakhs of construction workers registered in Delhi. In this regard, CM Arvind Kejriwal has directed the Labor Department to talk to DTC and explore its possibility. If this is possible, the Delhi government will pay a fixed fee to DTC in lieu of bus passes so that it does not suffer any financial loss. Apart from this, like lawyers, construction workers can also get the facility of group life insurance.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked the department to assess it. The CM gave these guidelines during the high-level review meeting of various schemes of the Labor Department on Wednesday. He said that the Labor Department should make positive and effective use of the funds so that all the registered workers can get benefits. Labor Minister Raj Kumar Anand and senior officers of the departments were present in the meeting. In the review meeting, the CM took details of the tax collected by the department and the use of resources and directed to identify some issues and resolve them. The Chief Minister directed the departmental officers to ensure effective utilization of the funds within a week.
Need to speed up registration of workers
CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the definition of construction worker is very broad and includes plumbers, carpenters and electricians etc. He said that if the schemes are publicized properly, around 25-30 lakh workers can be registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. The CM said that around 23.5 lakh workers are registered on the e-Shram Portal of the Centre, but they do not get any benefit there. We need to intensify efforts to get workers registered under our schemes so that they can get maximum benefits. The CM asked the officials whether we can start a carpet bombing scheme that would benefit all the workers. Officials said that 13.4 lakh workers are registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. They will be renewed from the month of April. Of these, about 5.36 lakh workers are present to work in the state at any point of time.
Benefits of schemes available to the elderly should be given
CM Kejriwal directed the department to remove the data of pensioners above 60 years of age. He said that the department needs to identify people who are 60 years or above and engaged in construction work. Such beneficiaries should be identified and the benefits of the available schemes should be given to them. The department needs to ensure that maximum number of beneficiaries are benefited from the pension scheme and there is no duplication. During this, the CM also directed the officials to explore the possibility of providing subsidized accommodation to the workers registered with the board.
