Amendment to pension scheme for construction workers on cards

The Punjab government is contemplating amending the pension scheme for building and other construction workers to rationalise the pension amount and improve the coverage.

The labour department has proposed changes in the welfare scheme operated by the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board for introducing three different pension slabs ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 per month for such workers depending on the length of period of their registration with the board, according to department sources.

As per the proposal, building and construction workers who are registered with the board continuously for three years will be given a pension of ₹1,000 per month on attaining the age of 60 years, whereas those registered continuously or intermittently for at least five years will get ₹1,500 per month. The third slab of monthly pension of ₹2,000 will be for workers who have been registered continuously with the board for more than 10 years.

Labour secretary Manvesh Singh Sidhu said the aim is to liberalise the pension scheme to bring more building and construction workers under its ambit. The proposed changes will be put up before the board in its next meeting, he said. The issue was also discussed in the previous meeting of the board. There is also a provision for family pension under the scheme in case of death of a beneficiary. Of the total 12 lakh registered workers, only about 50% are active and the rest have not renewed their enrolment, according to official figures. The number of pension beneficiaries is minuscule at 400.

Present policy ‘restrictive’

The scheme was launched by the board in 2014 with a condition that construction workers registered for 10 years would be eligible for benefits under the pension scheme. However, the previous Congress government amended it in December 2021 to provide that only to “live registered building and construction workers” who have been enrolled with the board continuously for a period of three years at the time of completing 60 years. The pension amount was also increased from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per month. Officials are of the view that the present policy is “restrictive” because many construction workers work intermittently and do not renew their registration.

Workers’ registration a concern

The board, which is sitting on a cash pile of ₹1,200 crore collected through labour cess of 1% of the cost of construction in the state, runs multiple welfare schemes for healthcare of construction workers, ex gratia in death, financial support for skill upgrade, education of their children, daughter’s marriage, etc. One of the officials quoted above said the registration of workers remains the biggest area of concern. “There is no provision of publicity of any kind under the scheme,” he said. The labour department has been holding camps to create awareness and enrol the workers.