NEW DELHI: Delhi government has decided to give all the construction labourers of the city 'Yatra Pass' for free rides in the DTC buses, sources said. Delhi has nearly 2 lakh registered construction labourers who will get this benefit. "The government will ensure the free travel of such labourers in the city. This will help them to save a lot of money which they earn every day," said an official.
The Delhi government is also planning to come up with a different board for construction labourers. "We will make all the items online here so that the labourers can now be able to register online and all the benefits will be accessible from their mobile," said the official. The officials also clarified that the free ride scheme would be funded form the one percent cess collected from construction agencies which have a turnover of more than Rs 10 lakh.
"We have nearly 2 lakh registered construction labourers and each year the number is increasing. In the given situation, the price of everyday goods are rising and the labourers face problems with payments from agencies many times hence we thought of providing some ease to them," said an official.
Recently, the Delhi government planned to end the practice of outsourcing hiring of contract workers and start recruiting these workers directly. "There will be two benefits to the workers. We have been informed that contractors were cutting Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 from the salaries of workers and not giving the entire PF (provident fund) amount due. We will be able to ensure these, plus it will lead to savings for the departments as they will not have to pay the contractors," said Gopal Rai, the Labor Minister. He added that the Labour Department had been asked to prepare a Cabinet note based on the recommendations of the Board for the consideration of the Cabinet soon.
Apart from that, the Board also recommended the appointment of a labor welfare officer by each Department in order to supervise the compliance with various labor laws. He said representatives of a government hospital had told the Board on Wednesday that a doctor had been deputed to monitor the attendance of contract workers instead of focusing on medical work. With a dedicated labor welfare officer, the other staff of the departments would be free to return to their primary duties.