The ministry highlighted the gaps and divergences in the draft rules of states and union territories. The states were requested to streamline their rules with the draft central rules to ensure consistency across the country.
By Himanshu Pathak
The fifteenth meeting of Building and other Construction Workers (BoCW) Monitoring Committee was held on Thursday with representatives of all states and union territories under the chairpersonship of the secretary, ministry of labour and employment. Various issues related to BoC workers data integration and utilisation of BoCW cess fund for welfare activities were discussed during the meeting.
The meeting was attended by principal secretaries, secretaries, labour commissioners and welfare commissioners of different states and union territories, besides senior officers of the union ministry of labour and employment.
In a landmark initiative aimed at welfare of the BoC workers and unorganized workers, the BoCW Management Information System (MIS) Portal was also launched by Sumita Dawra, secretary, ministry of labour and employment. The portal will function as the centralised data management system for compilation and analysis of the data obtained from BoCW welfare boards of the states.
This will in turn enable the states and union territories to make informed decisions and frame better welfare policies for BoCW workers. The states and union territories were asked to register on the portal and update their details, including fund utilization, onboarding of data on registration of the workers under various central and state schemes pertaining to schemes concerning social security (like social security benefits, insurance, health benefits and housing schemes).
Cess fund and schemes
It was noted that as on 30 June 2024, there are around 5.7 crore workers registered with the building and construction workers welfare boards of various states and union territories across the country. A cumulative cess amounting to around Rs. 1.15 lakh crores has been collected by the boards, out of which more than Rs. 66,000 crores have been spent by the boards for providing benefits under various welfare schemes to these workers.
The construction sector is the second largest employment generator in India, and as of 2023, 71 million workers are estimated to be employed in the sector, but 81 per cent of this workforce is unskilled and only 19 per cent are skilled employees, a report by Knight Frank & RICS.
The ministry is also working with the state BoCW welfare boards to extend the benefits of various central government schemes to BoC workers by utilizing BoCW cess fund. As a result, Ayushman Cards for health benefit have been approved for 1.3 crore BoCW workers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) scheme. More than 85,000 workers have been covered with insurance under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PM-JJBY) scheme, and another 1.24 lakh workers have been covered for protection against disability under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PM-SBY) scheme.
Many states including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh have undertaken construction of schools through cess funds for wards of BoC workers. Other states were also urged to undertake similar initiatives. The states and union territories were also requested to expedite the integration of BoC workers’ data with e-Shram portal of the Ministry, to enable access to various schemes as a one-stop-solution for unorganized sector workers.
Finalisation of draft rules
Preparedness of states and union territories with respect to harmonisation and finalisation of draft rules under the four labour codes was also reviewed during the meeting as a follow up to an earlier similar meeting held on 20 June 2024.
The ministry highlighted the gaps and divergences in the draft rules of states and union territories. The states were requested to streamline their rules with the draft central rules to ensure consistency across the country.
The states and union territories shared their views, suggestions and concerns during the meeting. The secretary, ministry of labour and employment informed the participants that the collaboration amongst states and union territories and the union government towards labour reforms will be strengthened further. In this direction, the ministry will be organizing six Regional Meetings with the States and union territories over the next two months at different locations.
