In wake of the extended lockdown, the Delhi government on Monday decided to provide an additional financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 to around 40,000 construction workers registered with the Construction Workers’ Welfare Board. It also decided to launch an online portal where construction workers could register themselves from May 15 to May 25. The Delhi government had earlier provided aid of Rs. 5,000 to construction workers in April, The Tribune reported.
दिल्ली में कंस्ट्रक्शन का काम करनेवाले मजदूरों को इस महीने एक बार फिर दिल्ली सरकार ₹5000 की सहायता राशि देगी।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 11, 2020
Since there was confusion about who could register, Delhi Labour Minister, Gopal Rai explained that carpenters, construction site guards, people who undertake concrete mixing, crane operators electricians, masons, tiles and stone fitters, welders, coolies, pump operators and others can apply for the benefit.
Construction Workers में कौन-कौन लोग रेजिस्ट्रेशन कर सकते हैं… pic.twitter.com/JeuItKp9De
— Gopal Rai (@AapKaGopalRai) May 11, 2020
The Delhi government also provided a one-time financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 to a total of 110,093 public service vehicle (PSV) badge holder para-transit drivers in the city. In the second week of April, the government had decided to provide this aid to drivers of autos, taxis, e-rickshaws and other para transit vehicles to help them overcome the financing crisis that stared them in the face during the lockdown, reported the Hindustan Times.
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said that the teams had only executed this scheme after leveraging technology so that nobody would have to step out of their homes to collect this aid.
He said, “The government has paid a total amount of ₹550,465,000. To do this without requiring beneficiaries to leave their homes during lockdown, we developed a unique mobile-based technology and software, and leveraged Aadhaar-based direct benefits transfer (DBT).”
He also said that the government faced difficulties in providing aid as the during the verification process, they found that there were various mismatches in the names between driving licenses and Aadhaar cards. Gahlot said, “We witnessed that in around 60,000 cases there was a mismatch in names between driving licence and Aadhaar. So, we faced a lot of issues in their verification. All the 13 MLOs were directed to manually cross-check and verify the names and details in the driving license with the Aadhaar details. This way, through mobile technology and round the clock efforts of the Delhi transport department officials, the verification process was completed. We have received nearly 158,000 applications.”
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