Hon’ble Lt Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) chairs Ladakh Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board meeting.

Leh, Dec 29, 2023: The Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) chaired the Ladakh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (LBOCWWB) meeting at the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat.
Commissioner Secretary, Labour, Shri Kacho Mehboob Ali Khan, IRS, apprised the HLG of the functions and powers of the Board. He informed about the cess of around Rs 111 crore collected over the last two years in Ladakh.
Deputy Labour Commissioner, Ladakh, Shri Atul Singh Mankotia, gave a detailed presentation on the agenda points discussed in the meeting, viz. the proposal to designate Deputy Labour Commissioner, Ladakh as the Secretary/CEO of the LBOCWWB; constitution of the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Fund and opening of the bank account to manage the account of LBOCWWB; proposal for approval of expenditure of around Rs 5.34 crores for continuation of Welfare schemes for the workers of JKBOCW Welfare Board for financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23 along with proposal for approval of the liabilities of around Rs 1.6 crores and recalling the cases from CEO/Secretary of JKBOCWWB for financial year 2021-22; approval for proposed administrative and welfare related expenditure for FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 of around Rs 1.72 crores and Rs 9.25 crores, respectively, along with the proposal that the expenses towards salaries, allowances and other remuneration to its members, officers and other employees and for meeting the other administrative expenses is within the 5% of the total expenses during the financial year in terms of Section 24 (3) of the BOCWW (RE&CS) Act, 1996; approval for welfare schemes such as Lower Education Assistance, Higher Education Assistance, Death-cum-Funeral Assistance, Chronic Diseases Assistance and Disability Assistance as per modalities of JKBOCWW Board with required modifications; payment of workers contribution by the Board for the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana (PM-SYM), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PM-SBY) and the Board will pay the premium payable on behalf of workers for the registered beneficiaries towards these pension and insurance schemes; opening of special educational/training institutions for the wards of the registered BOC workers as per the modalities of Atal Awasiya Vidyalaya of Uttar Pradesh Building Construction Workers Welfare Board with required modifications; approval for requesting JKBOCWW to transfer funds of Rs 17.24 crores to LBOCWWB; approval for the board for the onboarding of all active registered beneficiaries for disbursement of various benefits for 2022-23 and 2023-24; opening of facilitation centres for registration of workers as beneficiaries, creating awareness about various schemes of the Board, welfare schemes of Central and State governments for the benefit of BOC workers, etc.
Approving the majority of the agenda items, the HLG asked the Deputy Labour Commissioner to get more details from the banks like interest rates, other financial benefits and opening of more branches for easy reach, to decide where to open the bank account of LBOCWWB. He emphasised on taking swift action on the claims of the registered labourers along with assigning roles and responsibilities to the officials of the Labour Department to avoid malpractices. He highlighted the need to follow the set criteria for providing assistance as per the welfare schemes to the registered workers of LBOCWWB.
The HLG asked the Commissioner Secretary Labour to meet the concerned officials of JKBOCWWB for the transfer of funds of Rs 17.24 crores to LBOCWWB along with the transfer of data of active registered beneficiaries to LBOCWWB. He instructed the Deputy Labour Commissioner to educate every registered worker by issuing him a written card of Do’s and Don’ts for raising awareness among them for registering directly with registration centres of Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board of UT Ladakh. In this, the labourers can ease their difficulties of grouping with other 8-10 workers from their area and not become victims of unrecognised/private middlemen’s registration.
The Board members also discussed the revision of the quantum of assistance and increasing the financial power of the Assistant Labour Commissioners (ALCs) to provide assistance to the registered labourers. They also discussed utilising the existing infrastructure at institutions such as Navodaya Vidyalaya instead of establishing new educational institutions such as Atal Awasiya Vidyalaya and providing loans to registered loans at low-interest rates by LBOCWWB.
President of Contractor Association Leh/Kargil along with workers also shared their grievances, including raising the age of labourers from 45 to 60 years, which currently is fixed at 50 years; providing marriage assistance to registered workers; clearing pending liabilities and providing pension to registered workers above 60 years of age, etc.
Chairman/CEC, LAHDC Kargil, Dr Mohd Jaffer Akhoon; Deputy Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Shri Tsering Angchuk; Commissioner Secretary, Labour, Shri Mehboob Ali Khan; Deputy Director General/Welfare Commissioner, Ministry of Labour and Employment, GoI, Dr Onkar Sharma; Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Shri Santosh Sukhadeve; Director Finance, Ladakh, Dr Safdar Ali; Assistant Labour Commissioner Leh/Kargil; chief engineers from Project Himank, CPWD, PWD (R&B), presidents of Contractor Association Leh and Kargil along with construction workers.