15^th meeting of BoCW Monitoring Committee was held today with all States/UTs under chairpersonship of Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment. Various issues related to BoC workers data integration & utilisation of BoCW Cess Fund for welfare activities were discussed during the meeting. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries/ Labour Commissioners/ Welfare Commissioners of States/UTs, besides senior officers of the Ministry. 

In a landmark initiative aimed at welfare of the BoC workers and unorganized workers, BoCW Management Information System (MIS) Portal was also launched by Smt. Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment. The portal will function as the centralized data management system for compilation and analysis of the data obtained from BoCW Welfare Boards of the States. This will in turn enable the States/UTs to make informed decisions and frame better welfare policies for BoCW workers. The States/UTs were asked to register on the portal and update their details, including fund utilization, onboarding of data on registration of the workers under various central and state schemes, pertaining to social security benefits, insurance, health benefits, housing schemes, etc. 

It was noted that presently there are around 5.7 crore workers registered with Building and Construction Workers Welfare Boards of various States & UTs across the country, as on 30^th June 2024. A cumulative cess amounting to around Rs. 1.15 lakh crores have been collected by Boards, out of which more than Rs. 66,000 crores have been spent by the Boards for providing benefits under various welfare schemes to these workers.

The Ministry is also working with the State BoCW Welfare Boards to extend the benefits of various central government schemes to BoC workers by utilizing BoCW cess fund. As a result, Ayushman Cards for health benefit have been approved for 1.3 crore BoCW workers under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) scheme. More than 85000 workers have been covered with insurance under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PM-JJBY) scheme, and another 1.24 lakh workers have been covered for protection against disability under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PM-SBY) scheme.

Many states including Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh have undertaken construction of schools through cess funds for wards of BoC workers. Other states were also urged to undertake similar intiatives. The States and UTs were also requested to expedite the integration of BoC workers’ data with e-Shram portal of the Ministry, to enable access to various schemes as a one-stop-solution for unorganized sector workers. 

Preparedness of States/UTs with respect to harmonization and finalization of draft rules under four Labour Codes was also reviewed during the meeting as a follow up to the earlier similar meeting held on 20^th June 2024. The Ministry highlighted the gaps and divergences in the draft rules of States/UTs. The States were requested to streamline their rules with the draft Central rules to ensure consistency across the country. The States/UTs shared their views, suggestions and concerns during the meeting which were duly clarified. The Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employee informed the participants that the collaboration amongst States/UTs and Central Government towards labour reforms will be strengthened further. In this direction, the Ministry will be organizing 06 Regional Meetings with the States/UTs over the next two months at different locations.

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Himanshu Pathak

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