Even as some states loosened their purse strings to help construction workers when they faced wage losses and extreme poverty during the coronavirus lockdown, others, like Bihar, have not released any cash assistance or food supplies to over 13 lakh building and other registered construction workers .
According to data up to June 23 released by the Union ministry of labour and employment, Karnataka is the only state which has given out Rs 5,000 per head and food packets to nearly 22 lakh building and construction workers registered with it.
Most of the states have either handed out cash assistance to workers’ bank accounts, like Rs 6,000 per head in the case of Punjab, Chandigarh and Goa, or food packets only as in the case of Chhattisgarh.
Bihar and Puducherry, however, have neither helped construction workers with food nor financial assistance during the pandemic.
Despite often being hailed as ‘nation-builders’, construction workers are the most vulnerable segment of the unorganised sector in India. During the lockdown, they accounted for the worst-hit among migrant labourers. This time the call for financial assistance to construction workers was issued by the labour ministry as early as on March 24, in which it advised states to provide cash assistance to those rendered jobless during the pandemic.
The ministry said in a statement on Monday that a substantial amount of Rs 4,957 crore cash was released for about 2 crore registered construction workers across until June 23, through nearly 1.8 crore online transactions
