The North News
Chandigarh, February 4
Punjab Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond on Tuesday announced that the state’s Labour Department has registered 57.75 million workers on the central government’s e-Shram portal designed for unorganized workers. During a recent Labour Ministers and Labour Secretaries conference in New Delhi, Sond proposed extending medical insurance, child stipends, and retirement pensions to registered workers. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Board introduced reforms including a simplified registration form and Punjabi translations of form no. 27 for construction workers. Sond noted that if there are objections to a worker’s application, an SMS is sent, and labour Inspectors are now required to process registration and renewal applications within 14 days.
Sharing details, he said that additionally, the board has simplified terms for various welfare schemes such as the stipend scheme, LTC scheme, and Shagun scheme. For the financial year 2024-2025, Rs. 31.71 crore has been disbursed to 19,055 workers under these schemes, while Rs. 19.53 crore has been distributed this year. The Punjab Labour Welfare Board also allocated Rs. 15.36 crore to 5,980 beneficiaries last year. A help desk has been set up in the offices of Assistant Labour Commissioners to assist workers in resolving registration and welfare-related issues.
