Labour minister urges developers to register workers under welfare scheme

Pune: Maharashtra labour minister Akash Fundkar has urged that developers register construction workers under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare (BOCW) scheme.BOCW aims at the skilling, safety and welfare of workers. "Each year, the state govt undertakes skilling of 2 lakh workers, but is faced with the inability to do more since registrations are low and this poses a problem," he said recently.Fundkar was speaking at the Credai Pune safety awards function. He also called upon the real estate sector for timely representation to the labour ministry over issues faced.The minister said funds available with the state govt under BOCW is around Rs8,000 crore at present, as against Rs16,000 crore in 2022. Maharashtra imposes a 1% developer cess on cost of construction under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996.He said developers will not face a problem of unskilled labour if the latter get trained under the state govt's initiative. This can happen only if they come forward and successfully register their workers under BOCW. He emphasised that it was not just important in metro cities of Mumbai and Pune, but in Maharashtra as a whole. The govt is willing to train local as well as migrant workers and take care of their social security, he added.Meanwhile, the state is planning to spend Rs600 crore to set up new skilling centres in Nagpur and Mumbai for construction workers to familiarise them with technology upgrades in the industry, Fundkar announced at the event. The decision was taken after studying skilling models in three other states.The minister said, "The safety-first culture should be propagated not just in the state, but in the country. We will work with developers and other stakeholders to ensure that working environments are safe for workers on construction sites."