NEW DELHI: The construction workers’ registration campaign launched by the Delhi government on August 24 in 70 schools across the national capital is marred by technical glitches, coronavirus infection and poor turnout of construction workers.
After directions from the Delhi High Court last month, the labour department of the Aam Aadmi Party government launched ‘Niraman Mazdoor Registration Abhiyan’ to speed up the registration process of construction workers and other daily wagers.
Officials in these camps and legal aid volunteers said the online portal created specifically for this purpose was not working, posing the biggest hurdle for quick registration. Inadequate manpower is another complaint.
Workers in these camps fear the spread of coronavirus and are hesitant to turn up. A teacher posted in one of these camps in Vikaspuri was found corona positive and the camp was temporarily shut.
“The website provided by the government poses the biggest problem in the registration process. Soon after the campaign was launched, there were many glitches about which the government was informed, but to no effect. We are able to register only two workers per day on the website,” said Rishabh Pal, Para-legal Volunteer (PLV) working in Timarpur’s government run Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya.
To help the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board manage a shortfall in human resources, the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) has provided 100 lawyers to complete the paperwork.
Two days after the campaign was launched, the Construction Worker Welfare Board had to shift five camps in Rajinder Nagar, Dwarka, Tuglakabad, Jangpura and Pandara Road following a poor turnout of workers.
“The progress made by the government through the registration campaign in schools is very slow. They are also trying to mislead the High Court by such a mismanaged campaign,” said Sunil Kumar Aledia, activist who filed a petition in the High Court against the government.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramveer Singh Bidhuri, who had written a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a few days ago, says addresses of some schools provided by the labour department are not correct, which is why workers are unable to reach the camps.
When reached out, Labour and employment Minister Gopal Rai was unavailable for comments.
Meanwhile, the government has announced a compensation of `5000 for construction workers as assistance during lockdown which was forced to contain spread of coronavirus.