Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday announced a massive enrolment drive to register and revalidate 10 lakh construction workers free of cost across Punjab, while directing officials to take welfare schemes directly to labourers through special camps in villages and urban areas. Chairing a review meeting of the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers’ (BOCW) Welfare Board, the Chief Minister said the Punjab Government is committed to ensuring that every construction worker receives social security benefits, welfare assistance and opportunities for skill development.
During this, CM Bhagwant Singh Mann stated, “The Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board has been formed to ensure the welfare, social security and socio-economic upliftment of construction workers through registration, financial assistance and implementation of welfare schemes. 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, the Chief Minister noted, “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 registrations, more registration camps will be organised across the state,” he said.
The Chief Minister announced that the Punjab 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 ₹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 ₹15 crore,” said CM Bhagwant Singh Mann. He further said that the Punjab Government will continue supporting workers even after registration.
“The Punjab 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.
CM Bhagwant Singh Mann also directed officials to improve facilities available to labourers at Labour Chowks. “Sheds should be established at Labour Chowks and drinking water facilities should be provided so that labourers do not face inconvenience while waiting for work,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the Punjab Government has already taken significant steps to improve access to welfare schemes by reducing delays in processing applications. “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,” said CM Bhagwant Singh Mann. Emphasising the importance of skill development, the Chief Minister directed the Board to share details of 50,000 live registered construction workers with the Punjab Skill Development Mission.
“The Board should provide data of 50,000 live registered construction workers to the Punjab Skill Development Mission for skill training. The training should be provided only at construction sites, Punjab Skill Development Mission training centres and camps organised by the BOCW Welfare Board,” he said.
He said workers should be trained in specialised fields that can improve their skills and earning potential. “Training should be imparted in areas such as masonry, bar bending and fixing, shuttering carpentry, scaffolding, quality assurance, construction painting, construction electrical works, surveying, roads and runway construction, interior and exterior finishes, fabrication, draughting, shuttering carpentry and other related fields,” he said.
The Chief Minister also directed officials to ensure that women labourers benefit from the Punjab Government’s flagship welfare initiatives. “The Board must ensure that women labour workers also receive financial assistance under the Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna,” said CM Bhagwant Singh Mann.
Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian and other senior officials were present during the meeting.