The Building and Other Construction Workers’ (BOCW) Welfare Board has resolved to share the expenditure incurred by the government for providing ₹1,500 cash and 12 kg rice to white ration cardholders across the State as a relief measure during the lockdown imposed to contain COVID-19.
The Board has decided to bear the expenditure incurred by the government on providing relief to the families of workers registered with it. After deliberating on the issue threadbare and assessing the finances available with it, the Board has decided to give ₹300 crore to the Civil Supplies department as its contribution to the scheme.
The development follows Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s announcement of providing 12 kg rice to each member of the 87.5 lakh families with white ration cards across the State and ₹1,500 cash each enabling them to purchase other essentials like pulses during the lockdown period. The BOCW has over 14.5 lakh workers registered with it and it was accordingly decided to treat each family holding white ration card as a unit irrespective of the number of registered workers in each family.
“There are families with three or four members registered and other with single members registered with the board. The decision to treat family holding white ration card as a unit had been taken to ensure that there is uniformity in extending the relief,” a senior official said. In respect of workers without a ration card, it was for the government to bear the expenditure.
The welfare board has in funds to the tune of over ₹1,200 crore raised in the form of BOCW cess collected by the government under the BOCW Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996. The Board has decided to route the funds through the government to the Civil Supplies department enabling it to provide relief to the families of registered workers who are facing hardship in finding jobs. “The Labour department which administers the fund accumulated through the cess has limited resources to reach out the benefit. It has, therefore, been decided to hand over the responsibility to the Civil Supplies department which has vast network of fair price shop dealers across the State,” the official told The Hindu.