ITANAGAR, Mar 31: The All Arunachal Contractor’s Welfare Association (AACWA) on Tuesday urged the state government to instruct the labour commissioner and the chairman of the Arunachal Pradesh Building & Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (APB&OCWWB) to provide financial relief to daily wage labourers.
“The welfare amount collected from 1 percent labour cess is parked in the board’s account. The labour board should look after the labourers and workers facing
untold miseries in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown,” the association said in a statement.
Every year, government projects worth crores of rupees are executed and funds amounting to crores of rupees are deposited in the APB&OCWWB’s account, it said.
The AACWA also urged the government to immediately lift the order banning government cheques issued to the contractors.
It claimed that the public are facing a financial crisis due to “non-clearing of government cheques from banks.”
After drawing flak from all quarters for its inept handling of the crisis faced by migrant workers due to the lockdown, the APB&OCWWB has decided to provide cash relief of Rs 2000 per month to all non-government unorganized sector workers registered with the board, for the months of April and May. APB&OCWWB Secretary Vikram Singh Malik issued an order on Tuesday, stating that cash relief would be provided to the workers affected by the prevailing situation because of Covid-19.
