Chandigarh, October 10:
In a Diwali gift to the construction and unskilled Labours, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today approved hike in minimum wages of these workers.
A decision to this effect was taken by the Chief Minister while chairing a review meeting of Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board,here at his office.
Taking part in meeting, the Chief Minister said that the minimum wages of unskilled workers have been hiked to Rs 9907 from existing Rs 9192 whereas that of semi skilled have been enhanced to Rs 10687 from Rs 9972. Likewise, he said that wages of skilled workers have been increased to Rs 11584 from Rs 10869 and that of highly skilled workers have been hiked to Rs 12616 from Rs 11901. Bhagwant Mann said that the state government is committed for well being of every strata of society.
In another significant decision, the Chief Minister also gave a nod for embarking major drive to register workers with the board. He said that currently 5.30 lakh workers have been registered with the board which needs to be enhanced upto minimum15 lakh. Bhagwant Mann asked the board to intensify the campaign by sending teams in villages, towns, labour chowks and construction sites.
Taking a leap forward towards smart governance by the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Chief Minister also launched a new mobile app named ‘Punjab Kirti Sahayak app’ for facilitating the Labour and Construction Workers to get all their details on a single click.
The Chief Minister said that this app will revolutionize the working mechanism of the board by helping in ensuring greater efficiency in the registration of construction workers as well as by offering them benefits under the various schemes run by the Board. Bhagwant Mann said that the construction workers may now register with the Board, from anywhere and anytime.
The Chief Minister further said that the app is bilingual (both in English and Punjabi), hence Punjabi construction workers will not face any language constraints as the App is quite user-friendly. He said that apart from registering themselves with the Board and applying for various welfare schemes, the applicants may also apply for registration renewals, can track the status of their applications and may also remove deficiencies in the required documents and that too quite swiftly. Bhagwant Mann said that the app can be downloaded from the Google Play/App store.
The Chief Minister also approved the conversion of Skill Development Centers into transit accommodation for construction workers. He said that the benefits of several pro-people welfare schemes will also be extended to the workers. It is worth mentioning that the Board is offering 17 welfare schemes to the construction workers.
