Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Thursday inaugurated two waiting centres for labourers in Bhubaneswar and announced that more such facilities would be opened across the state for the welfare of workers.
During the state-level International Workers’ Day-2025 function here, he unveiled the two waiting centres at Dumduma and Kalpana area in Bhubaneswar.
Each centre has facilities like drinking water, toilets and parks for workers.
The chief minister announced that such centres will soon come up in Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Keonjhar, and Berhampur cities.
He also felicitated functionaries of various trade unions and distributed assistance under the Construction Workers Welfare Scheme for education, marriage, maternity, death, and funeral assistance.
“Since our government came to power, more than 4 lakh construction workers have been newly registered and an assistance of Rs 370 crore has been provided.
“Today, on the occasion of Labour Day, around 3,000 newly issued identity cards to eligible construction workers across the state have been issued and more than Rs 40 crore has been provided to eligible beneficiaries in various forms of assistance,” Majhi said.
Claiming that the state government has been working diligently towards the legal rights and social security of workers employed in various sectors, Majhi said the BJP government, as promised before the elections, has raised the assistance provided under the Construction Workers Welfare Board from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh in case of normal death and from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6 lakh in case of accidental death.
He said around 47 lakh construction workers have been registered under the scheme, and more than Rs 3,951 crore has been provided for various assistance.
The chief minister launched the ‘Odisha Sramik Sathi’ mobile app to bring various services of the Construction Workers Welfare Board to the fingertips of workers.
The app will enable workers to access services like online registration and renewal, and help them apply for assistance.
He said the daily wage of different categories of workers has been raised during the last 10 months.
Majhi also said the state government has set up a task force to identify and address the problems of migrant workers.
A special state action plan has been prepared for Odia migrant workers, the CM said.
“Steps are being taken to employ local workers in various industries, which will reduce the number of migrant labourers from the state,” the chief minister said.
Labour Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia said workers are an important part of the country’s development, and their hard work is the foundation of the development.
PTI
