New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia conducted a surprise inspection of the District Labour Office at Pushp Vihar on Tuesday where he found laxity of employees in registering construction workers and labourers. Sisodia, who recently took over the Labour Department, said the Delhi government would not tolerate any carelessness or excuses when it came to ensuring the welfare of Delhi's workers.
During the inspection, Sisodia directed the Department to issue a show-cause notice against the Deputy Secretary for not being present in the office. The Deputy CM also directed officials to resolve all pending issues within 24 hours.
The workers who had queued up outside the South District Construction Board Labour Office at Pushp Vihar said they reached the office at 4 am and had been waiting since then. Labourers who had come to file their application for registration, renewal and verification of their documents were present.
Sisodia directed officials to ensure a system of registration that does not require frequent travelling to the government office and a system without bribes for the labourers. He said, "Whichever broker is caught taking bribes, an FIR should be lodged immediately against him." He also added that if any role of middlemen is found, the responsibility will be fixed on the concerned officer.
In the absence of clear information about the process, the workers fall prey to brokers, the Labour Department said in a statement and in order to stop the economic exploitation, the Deputy CM has directed officials
to install simple hoardings in the office so that all the information is easily available to the labourers. Sisodia also directed officials to install CCTVs in and around the office so that such middlemen can be identified.
The Department has estimated that after the registration is complete, the city would have at least one million registered construction workers. "It is our priority to register each and every single labourer and ensure they are provided with the benefits of these welfare schemes," Sisodia added.