CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced an enrolment drive to register and revalidate 10 lakh construction workers for free and directed officials to take welfare schemes directly to labourers through special camps.Chairing a review meeting of the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers’ (BOCW) Welfare Board, the chief minister said his government is committed to ensuring that every construction worker receives social security benefits, welfare assistance and opportunities for skill development.Mann said it is unfortunate that despite the availability of ample funds, welfare schemes for labourers have not achieved the desired success due to long processing times.Highlighting the need to expand the coverage of welfare schemes, he said, “As of now, 2.21 lakh workers are registered with the BOCW Welfare Board, which is quite low considering the massive construction activities and urbanisation taking place across Punjab. To improve it, more registration camps will be organised across the state”.According to an official statement, the chief minister announced that his government will remove the registration fee burden on workers during the special campaign to encourage maximum participation.“It has been observed that workers often avoid registration because they are required to deposit Rs 145 as registration fee. To incentivise registration and revalidation, applicants will not be required to deposit this fee during the mass registration campaign.“Around 10 lakh workers will be enrolled or revalidated during this campaign and the Punjab Government will bear the financial implication of nearly Rs 15 crore,” he said.He further said his government will bear the registration fee cost of all workers who do not avail any benefits within a year.“The Labour Department has also been directed to organise special camps in villages during evening hours because labourers return home from work at that time and this will help ensure maximum registrations,” he added.Mann also directed officials to improve facilities available for workers at labour chowks — such as shed and drinking water.He further said, “In the financial year 2022-23, the processing time for welfare schemes meant for labourers was 203 days. The Punjab government has now reduced it to 73 days. Long processing times were a major hurdle preventing workers from availing welfare schemes and therefore this important decision has been taken.” Emphasising the importance of skill development, Mann directed the Board to share details of 50,000 live registered construction workers with the Punjab Skill Development Mission for training. He also said that the training should be organised at the construction sites, along with training centres and camps.Mann also directed officials to ensure that women labourers benefit from the government’s flagship welfare initiatives. “The Board must ensure that women labour workers also receive financial assistance under the Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna,” Mann said.
