The registration camps will be held across 70 schools. (File Photo)

The welfare board for construction labourers in Delhi will hold 70 camps across the capital between August 24 to September 11 to register workers engaged in this sector and extend the mandated benefits to them under a Central Act.

The decision of the board was announced by Labour Minister Gopal Rai on Sunday. The Delhi High Court, which is hearing a PIL on the alleged irregularities in the board, has been pushing the government to bring more workers under the safety net.

The camps will be held across 70 schools, Rai said. Earlier, the board had agreed to engage lawyers from the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) for the purpose of verification of application forms received from workers. “To speed up the process, detailed information has been given to all 70 MLAs, trade unions and agencies so that they can join hands and help construction workers with registration,” Rai said at a press conference.

Separately, the government is also accepting online registrations and applications for renewal of memberships from workers who stopped receiving benefits as officials did not keep track of those disappearing from the rolls of the board.

“During the registration process, the physical verification of construction workers will also be done immediately. This way, construction labourers will not have to worry about visiting Delhi government offices for physical verification,” Rai said.

Every state has one such welfare board, which runs an array of welfare schemes for them, funded by the cess collected from projects under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996. Under the Act, a building worker is eligible for registration only if he or she has been engaged in building or construction work for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months.