Himachal construction workers demand employment for cardholders

They urged CM Jai Ram Thakur to increase work days to 250 per year and daily wages to Rs 350 per day.

The Himachal Pradesh Construction Workers’ Federation has demanded the state government to provide employment to all cardholders. They urged CM Jai Ram Thakur to increase work days to 250 per year and daily wages to Rs 350 per day. Apart from this, they have demanded tools and weekly-offs and to increase coronavirus relief amount being provided by the State Labour Welfare Board to registered labourers from Rs 4,000 to Rs 7,000.

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They have accused the state government of not being serious about providing employment to workers. They claimed that during the first quarter of the ongoing financial year, only 22% of total registered families have received work for just 17 days.

State general secretary of the federation, Bhupinder Singh, said that due to coronavirus, many industries in urban areas have shutdown and many workers have lost jobs in last three months. In the present situation, MGNREGA is important for these workers. He added that cards of around 13.02 lakh families have been made. Of these, 7.52 lakh families are under active job card categories.