ITANAGAR, 19 Sep: Chief Minister Pema Khandu announced to roll out a new scheme titled Mukhya Mantri Shramik Kalyan Yojana (MMSKY) for the welfare of the state’s labour force.
He made the announcement here on 17 September to mark the National Labour Day.
Attending the celebration organised by the state unit of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Khandu said that the MMSKY is a revised list of incentives for workers registered with the Arunachal Pradesh Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
Under the scheme, maternity benefit for families of workers has been enhanced from Rs 1,000 to Rs 6,000; natural death compensation from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakhs; accidental death compensation from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakhs; funeral assistance from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000; medical assistance (for the first three days) from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000, and Rs 100 per day for the rest of the days to Rs 250; ceiling limit from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000; and Rs 10,000 for damage due to natural calamities.
To encourage the workers’ children to take part in sports, the MMSKY will have a cash incentive of Rs 15,000 for a gold medal, Rs 10,000 for silver, and Rs 8,000 for bronze in any state-level tournament or competition.
For those who excel at the national level, Rs 30,000 for a gold medal, Rs 20,000 for a silver medal, and Rs 15,000 for a bronze medal have been provided under the scheme.
On the call for enhancement of salaries of contingency and casual workers in government departments, Khandu said, “Since mid-2016, when my government came to power, the salaries have been increased by Rs 6,500.”
“When we formed the government in mid-2016, the salary of unskilled workers was Rs 4,500 per month and that of skilled workers was Rs 5,100. With increments over the years, barring two years of Covid, today the salary of an unskilled worker stands at Rs 11,000 and that of skilled worker at Rs 12,000,” he said.
He asserted that his government will “never shy away from salary enhancement of the working class, provided the state’s revenue generation compensates for it.”
“We have done remarkably well in terms of generating revenue. The fact is, before we came to power, the state’s annual budget of 2015-’16 was Rs 12,500 crore only. Today, the annual budget for 2022-’23 stands at a whopping Rs 30,000 crore. The more we earn, the more we spend on infrastructure development and salary increment,” he said.
The CM also announced an increment of Rs 1,000 to the existing salaries of both unskilled and skilled workers.
Responding to the demand for regularisation of contingency and casual workers who have completed 15 years in service, Khandu informed that “the state government has already approved filling up of 50 per cent of MTS (Group C) posts from these sections.”
He informed that there is no provision for a pension scheme for casual workers, but said that “the state government has decided to pay the share on behalf of the workers in schemes like the PM Suraksha Beema Yojana and the PM Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana.”
He further announced that the state government will also pay the premium of Rs 200 per head per month on behalf of the workers opting for the Atal Pension Yojana.
On job regularisation of anganwadi workers, the CM informed that “50 per cent of gram sevika junior posts will be filled by anganwadi workers completing 10 years of service who are Class 10 passed and have completed a three-month-long job training.”
“Further, 25 per cent of supervisor posts will also be reserved for them,” he said.
On the need for more vending zones, Khandu announced three new vending zones in the state capital: in Papu Nallah (near the forest park), the C Sector trijunction in Naharlagun, and D Sector (near Hotel Rajhans) in Naharlagun.
Acknowledging the need for parking zones in the state capital, he informed that several are under construction. “While the IMC is constructing a multi-level car parking each in Gohpur (Chimpu), Ganga, F and G Sectors, Itanagar, and Banderdewa, the urban development department is constructing a multi-storied parking facility in ESS Sector, Itanagar, and at the APST station in Ganga.”
“Under the Smart City Mission also, three parking zones are under construction,” he said, and informed that “these are in F Sector, Naharlagun (for 200 cars), near TRIHMS, Naharlagun (72 cars), and in the civil secretariat, Itanagar (108 cars).
The CM advised local legislator Techi Kaso and Mayor Tame Phassang to “explore more spaces for establishment of parking zones.”
Other welfare measures announced by Khandu are “enhancement of Rs 1,000 to the salary of anganwadi workers and helpers and top-up component of ASHAs emolument by state government by Rs 1,000.”
Besides those mentioned above, State Labour Board Chairman Nyato Dukam, BMS national vice president Krishna Pratap Singh, state BMS leaders, and state government workforce were present on the occasion. (CM’s PR Cell)
