Construction workers Registration in the welfare board would be made compulsory in the state, said chairman of Tamil Nadu Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (TNCWWB) Pon Kumar.
“We will bring necessary legal provisions to make registration of construction workers with the welfare board compulsory. This includes labourers from other states engaged in the construction industry,” he told TOI after assuming charge as the chairman of the board on Friday.
The board has 13,41,494 registered members, while around 20 lakh labourers are not registered with the board. “We will carry out an inquiry to find out the reasons for not registering a large section of workers. Meanwhile, a special drive will be carried out to enrol the unregistered members. We are also taking efforts to simplify online registration,” he said.
The board would insist on employing registered members in all government construction projects in the state. This would ensure insurance cover for the labourers and provide a safety net for their families if the workers meet with any accident, he added.
On increasing the financial assistance to members, Kumar said until now, private builders have been paying 1% labour cess, which was used for the welfare of workers. However, it has not been collected from government projects. “From now on, we will insist the contractors taking government projects pay the labour cess without fail. This will increase the corpus fund and help us enhance the financial assistance,” he said.
At present, family of a registered member who dies of natural causes is extended an aid of Rs 25,000. The board plans to make it Rs 1 lakh.
