Chhattisgarh has urged the Central Government to open a modern hospital soon in the State especially for industrial workers.
Attending the meeting of labour ministers meeting at New Delhi, the State labour Minister Amar Agrawal also drew the attention of the Centre towards the various long standing demands of his State.
He said the State Government has already allotted land in the industrial areas of Raipur, Durg and Korba and requested the Centre to open a Medical College to protect the health interest of the industrial workers. The other dignitaries who were present in the conference included Union labour and Employment Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of State for Mining and Steel, Vishnudev Sai, Secretary of the Central labour and Employment Department Gauri Kumar and labour ministers of different states.
Agrawal said the Central government should also sanction earmarked funds to the states without any delay.‘The Centre should keep 10 percent of the amount of fund collected by the state governments and remaining 90 per cent it should give to the concerned States so that the concerned State Government carries out different welfare programmes, he said.Similarly the Central Government should implement housing schemes for workers working in other sectors, Agrawal said, adding, in Chhattisgarh, the government has implemented a housing scheme for bidi workers.
He also demanded a hike in the assistance amount the government provides to the bonded labourers. Agrawal also emphasized on the need for strengthening of the system to provide skill development and vocation training to the workers. He said the government should prepare schemes so that the workers get employment after necessary training.
He also urged the Centre to launch special schemes for unorganized workers and make suitable allocation of fund for such schemes in the budget .The State labour Secretary Jitendra Kumar also attended the conference.