Punjab waives registration fee for 10 lakh construction workers in mega welfare push

Bhagwant Mann has announced a statewide drive to register and revalidate 10 lakh construction workers free of cost. The campaign is meant to widen welfare access through fee waivers, village camps and quicker processing.

In Short

• Welfare schemes to reach labourers via special camps across Punjab
• Registration fee of Rs 145 waived to boost worker enrolment
• Processing time for welfare benefits cut from 203 to 73 days

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday announced a massive enrolment drive to register and revalidate 10 lakh construction workers free of cost and directed officials to take welfare schemes directly to labourers through special camps across the state.

Chairing a review meeting of the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers' (BOCW) Welfare Board, Mann said the state government is committed to ensuring that every construction worker receives social security benefits, welfare assistance and opportunities for skill development.

The Chief Minister said it was unfortunate that despite the availability of ample funds, welfare schemes for labourers had not achieved the desired success due to long processing times. He stressed the need to expand the coverage of welfare schemes and noted that only 2.21 lakh workers are currently registered with the BOCW Welfare Board despite the large-scale construction activity and rapid urbanisation taking place across Punjab.

“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,” Mann said.

According to an official statement, the Chief Minister announced that the government will waive the registration fee during the special campaign to encourage maximum participation by workers.

Mann said workers often avoid registration because they are required to pay a registration fee of Rs 145. To incentivise registration and revalidation, applicants will not have to deposit the 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.

The Chief Minister further announced that the state government will bear the registration fee cost of all workers who do not avail any benefits within a year.

He also directed the Labour Department to organise special camps in villages during evening hours, noting that labourers usually return home from work at that time and the move would help ensure maximum registrations.

Mann instructed officials to improve facilities available for workers at labour chowks, including the provision of sheds and drinking water.

Highlighting improvements in service delivery, the Chief Minister said the processing time for welfare schemes meant for labourers has been significantly reduced. He said that in the financial year 2022-23, the processing time stood at 203 days, but the Punjab government has now brought it down to 73 days.

“Long processing times were a major hurdle preventing workers from availing welfare schemes and therefore this important decision has been taken,” he said.

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 said the training should be conducted at construction sites as well as through training centres and camps.

The Chief Minister also directed officials to ensure that women labourers benefit from the government's flagship welfare initiatives. He said the Board must ensure that women labour workers receive financial assistance under the Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna.

- Ends