New Delhi New Delhi: The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Wednesday launched a Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Management Information System (MIS) portal to review the preparedness of States and Union Territories in finalising draft rules under four labour codes and progress of implementation of welfare schemes for BOCW.
The portal was launched at the 15th meeting of the BOCW Monitoring Committee held with all States and Union Territories under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment. Various issues related to BOCW data integration and utilisation of BOCW cess funds for welfare activities were discussed during the meeting. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretaries, Secretaries, Labour Commissioners and/or Welfare Commissioners of States and Union Territories, apart from senior officials of the Ministry.
In an initiative aimed at the welfare of BOC workers and unorganised workers, the BOCW Management Information System (MIS) portal was launched by Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment. The portal will act as a centralised data management system for compilation and analysis of data received from the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Boards of the States. This will enable the States/UTs to take informed decisions and
BoCWs will be able to formulate better welfare policies for workers. States and Union Territories were asked to register on the portal and update their details, including access to data on registration of workers under various Central and State schemes regarding social security benefits, insurance, health benefits, housing schemes, etc. and onboarding.
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It was noted that currently about 5.7 crore workers are registered with the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Boards of various States and Union Territories across the country, as on June 30, 2024. A cumulative cess of about Rs 1.15 lakh crore has been collected by the Boards, out of which more than Rs 66,000 crore has been spent by the Boards for providing benefits to these workers under various welfare schemes.
The Ministry is also working in collaboration with State BoCW Welfare Boards to extend the benefits of various Central Government schemes to BoCW workers using BoCW cess funds. As a result, Ayushman cards have been sanctioned for health benefits for 1.3 crore BoCW workers under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) scheme.
More than 85000 workers have been covered with insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PM-JJBY) scheme, and another 1.24 lakh workers have been covered for protection against disability under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PM-SBY) scheme. Several states including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh have constructed schools for the children of BoCW workers through cess funds.
Other States were also urged to take up similar initiatives. States and Union Territories were also requested to expedite the integration of BoC workers data with the Ministry’s e-Shram portal to enable access to various schemes as a one-stop solution for unorganised sector workers.
The preparedness of States/UTs with regard to harmonisation and finalisation of draft rules under the four Labour Codes was also reviewed during the meeting, which is a follow-up to a similar meeting held on June 20, 2024. The Ministry highlighted the gaps and variations in the draft rules of States and Union Territories. States were requested to streamline their rules with the draft Central rules to ensure uniformity across the country. States/UTs shared their views, suggestions and concerns during the meeting, which were duly clarified.
Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Personnel informed the participants that collaboration between States, Union Territories and Central Government will be further strengthened towards labour reforms. Towards this, the ministry will hold six regional meetings with states and union territories at various locations in the next two months. (ANI)
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