Sisodia launches helpline number for construction workers
New Delhi:

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday launched a helpline number -- 1076 -- for construction workers across the city to register with the government for various schemes.
The registration and renewal of construction workers with the labour welfare board will now be done through a ‘doorstep delivery system’, wherein workers can just dial the helpline and an executive will pay a visit at their homes for the paperwork.
“Workers will no longer have to stand in long queues. The Delhi government has launched a helpline number, which is functional from today itself. It is our priority that workers receive benefits of all schemes in time,” Sisodia said in a statement.
He said workers can now just dial 1076, and tell their details such as name and area of work. A government executive will go to the worker’s home at a suitable time, and relevant documents will be uploaded there. It’ll be approved online, and he/she will receive the acknowledgement SMS and a call, confirming his registration.
Construction workers’ welfare cess is collected from construction companies, and this amount is used for the welfare of workers. To avail this amount, a construction worker needs to be a registered worker with the government labour welfare board.
“Due to the complex process of registration and renewal, middlemen illegally ended up taking anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 from the labourers in the name of filling up their forms. Moreover, the workers had to repeatedly go to the labour office on several days and spend hours in queues, which resulted in loss of daily wages. To provide relief to workers, and ease this process, we have started the doorstep delivery of registration and renewal of workers,” the deputy CM said.
Now with just a phone call, a member of the Delhi government will visit the worker’s house, fill up their documents. The workers will just have to pay Rs 25 and a service charge of Rs 50, he added.
Until now, only 111,000 workers have been registered in Delhi even though the city has an estimate of 10 lakh construction workers, said Sisodia.
The Delhi government had in September organised a 12-day camp across assembly constituencies to help construction workers register. However, the camp was not a hit, as it was also marred by long queues and technical glitches in uploading and verification of documents.
Construction workers include beldar, painter, concrete mixer, tiles and stone fitter, whitewash and POP worker, blacksmith, crane operator among others. Watchmen at construction sites, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, fitters, welders, shuttering workers, pump operators and bar winders are eligible for the same.
Registered workers can avail of different schemes such as an amount of Rs 35,000 to Rs 51,000 for their children’s marriage, health benefits and maternity benefit of up to Rs 30,000, monthly pension of Rs 3,000 for workers over the age of 60, among others.
Besides, a compensation of Rs 2 lakh in case of accidental death, one lakh in case of natural death, a cover of Rs 1 lakh for disability and Rs 10,000 for covering the costs of funeral.