Delhi L-G approves 17 welfare schemes for construction workers

Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V. K Saxena on Saturday approved 17 welfare schemes of the Delhi Building & Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board (DBOCWWB), with specific directions for constant supervision and monitoring of the disbursement process under these schemes.

The schemes approved under Section 7 of the Aadhar Act, 2016, would ensure that all financial benefits like grant of disability pension, ex-gratia payment, medical assistance, maternity benefit, death benefit etc. to the genuine beneficiaries are given only through DBT after their Aadhar-based authentication.

"The objective is to minimise leakages and promote targeted delivery of benefits while simultaneously improving the working conditions, quality of life and ensuring welfare of the construction workers," the L-G office said.

L-G has directed strict supervision and monitoring of the disbursement process in the aforesaid schemes. 

The L-G has underlined the need for making the “registration of construction workers fully transparent, fool-proof, tamper-free and genuine.”

L-G said that this will ensure that only genuine construction workers are registered and consequently benefited from the funds of DBOCWWB.

“For this purpose, the Deputy Labour Commissioners of the concerned Districts may be made responsible for a transparent and efficient implementation of the benefit transfer to the entitled and genuine beneficiaries only and a stringent exercise for establishing the veracity of the registration process and the registered beneficiaries be undertaken concurrently,” the L-G said.

The development comes in wake of the instances of financial irregularities in the functioning of the DBOCWWB and leakages in the distribution of benefits under its various schemes by way of providing benefits to “ghost construction workers” (who are not construction workers).

Investigation into the alleged unauthorised and illegal registration of fake construction workers and financial irregularities therein is already being conducted by the anti-corruption branch.