The Delhi government has decided to distribute some free facilities which will be extended to the 13 lakh registered construction workers in the capital, free bus travel, group life insurance and transit hotels are some of the facilities that will be included for the workers.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal conducted a high level meeting with the Labour Department to review the functioning of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board on Monday.
The CM mentioned that even though 13 lakh construction workers are registered with the board, it has not developed any mechanism to verify their existence and reach out to them.
“If the department is extending the benefit of these schemes to barely 400-500 people…., there is no point in running this department itself. If the department has Rs 3,000-4,000 crore lying with it, then it must extend the benefit of its schemes to all 13 lakh workers. There can be compromise with the welfare of our workforce,” said Kejriwal.
Moreover, Kejriwal also mentioned to the officials to conduct a proper exercise along with Revenue Department teams to verify the registered workers by June this year.
“Start reaching out to all registered workers on their phones. The cost of sending SMS and IVRS messages to all the workers on their phones would be much lesser than running TV and radio campaigns and it will be much more effective,” added the CM.
Moreover, the Delhi government will provide skill training to masons, plumbers, electricians and carpenters as well.
The government will also allocate LIG flats to construction workers, by bearing 75 per cent of the cost, while they will only be liable to pay the remaining 25 per cent.
The chief minister remarked that the proposal was good and has directed the department to take it up on a priority basis first. The board has been asked to prepare the plan by the first week of May and present it before the chief minister for another review.