To provide financial aid and other benefits to construction workers, factory workers and labourers working in other professions, Balbir Singh Sidhu, labour Minister, Punjab on Thursday instructed the officers of the labour Department to register all the contractors working for outsourcing with the labour department.
Chairing the first meeting of the officers of the labour Department, Sidhu took a stock of various activities and schemes being run by the Department for welfare of workers.
He stressed upon providing quality health check up facilities to the workers and instructed the officers of ‘Building and Other Construction Welfare Board’ to procure Mobile lab-cum- Ambulance Vans. He instructed that one such Van each be stationed at the big cities in Punjab, which would conduct at the spot health check up of the workers at the construction sites and labourers standing at the labour chowks. He instructed that in emergency condition medicines must also be provided to the labourers by the Board.
Reviewing the existing housing schemes, the minister instructed officers to provide full benefits to the workers for the construction of houses. He instructed that financial aid under housing schemes be provided to those labourers, who owned piece of land for this purpose.
The labour Minister also asked the officers to appoint the computer operators at the Block level so that labourers need not to go the various District offices to get their minor work done.
Sidhu expressed resentment that some of the Municipal Committees and Corporations do not deposit the complete amount of cess they collected on the construction work, with the labour Department and asked the officers to expedite the process to get the dues of cess from these committees and corporations.