Out of the 55,578 registered construction workers in Jharsuguda district, only 7,842 workers have received instruments for their work. Registration of workers has been closed for last one and a half years for Covid restrictions in the Jharsuguda Labour Office.
Meanwhile, due to death of many workers, the security of their families is at risk for want of Government assistance. In March 2020, the Government had declared assistance of Rs 1,500 to each construction worker in the first wave of corona. That time, the District Labour Office had sent a list of 30,424 beneficiaries to the concerned department. However, names of 25,000 workers have since been deleted from the eligibility list of workers. The reason is that registration is to be renewed after every two years. Now, no renewal or new registration of workers is done due to Covid restrictions.
Likewise, assistance is also not given to the beneficiaries from the Odisha Buildings and other Construction Workers Welfare fund." As a result, the workers are being deprived of their own rights. However, in October 2020, with little relaxation in situation, marriage assistance was given to 23 families and death assistance to 23 families. Workers leader Ratnakar Pradhan said that no work particularly renewal is done in the Labour Office on plea of corona.