New Delhi: Construction workers’ unions in the city have implored the Delhi government to speed up the process of registering workers, so that they may be eligible for financial benefits they were assured during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Delhi government has received 29,759 applications a month after it started registering construction workers in the Capital, but only 537 — less than 2% — of them have been issued registration certificates till June 10, a senior Delhi government official said. Officials have said the slow pace of registrations is because few workers have been able to appear for the physical verification process.
The Delhi government had in April said it will disburse Rs 5,000 to all registered construction workers in the city. The government has disbursed two instalments of the relief amount so far.
Construction workers in the unorganised sector can register themselves with the state government, to be renewed on a yearly basis. The process is online, and helps registered works avail government benefits of welfare schemes such as those regarding loans and pensions.
The Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (DBOCWWB), under the Delhi government, had started the registration process on May 15. As per a notice issued by the board on June 10, it had received 28,828 applications till June 9, of which 25, 040 were for fresh registrations and 3,788 for renewal.
The Delhi government kicked off the registration process after a plea in the Delhi high court by social worker Sunil Kumar Aledia, filed through advocate Shiven Verma, sought directions to the government to provide relief to workers and labourers, including those who had registered in the last two years, who would have otherwise been ineligible.
Of the applications for fresh registrations, the board granted certificates to 442 construction workers till June 9, and of the 3,788 renewal applications, just 74 certificates were issued.
Aledia said, “The numbers are very low, and the government should expedite the registration process.”
A senior Delhi government official, who asked to stay anonymous, said, “While we started receiving applications online from May 15, not many construction workers could come in for physical verifications, due to the lockdown. We started the physical verification from June 1. Till June 10, we had received 29,759 applications, of which 537 workers have been issued the certificate. We are calling 100 people to the various centres each day for the verification process, but few are able to come. We are trying to speed up the process.”
In the June 10 notice, the board stated, “Few applicants i.e construction workers are coming for physical verification which may be due to reverse migration to native places or else.”
Thaneshwar Adigaur, secretary of the Delhi Asangathit Nirman Mazdoor Union, said, “More construction workers should have benefited from the government’s scheme. But the process to issue registration certificates is moving at a snail’s pace. The board is calling very few people for verification, and at this pace, it will take a lot of time to register all workers. Only those who were registered with the board earlier are entitled to the financial assistance of Rs 5,000. But of the 3,788 applications, the board has been able to issue renewed certificates to just 74 construction workers.”
Gaur, who is also a member of the advisory committee of the welfare board, added, “The government should deploy more people so that the process can be completed at the earliest. We have written to the government in this regard.”
While 5,39,421 construction workers are registered with the board, as of on September 30, 2018, the Delhi government had given the Rs 5,000 assistance to 39,600 workers till May 12.
In May, the Delhi High Court had directed the state government to send out proper communication, in the form of SMSs, to over five lakh construction workers, majority of who are yet to avail the financial aid of Rs 5,000 is given to them by authorities in view of the ongoing lockdown. The court also said that those workers whose registration has lapsed will also be entitled to the ex-gratia, but after they renew their membership.
