NEW DELHI: Till recently, Ram Saran (45), a native of UP, had been earning his livelihood as a construction worker in the city. Then came the ban on construction, enforced due to the spiking pollution levels and forcing him out of work.
Currently unemployed, Saran rues that he could have availed compensation had he been registered as a construction worker. “I don’t even know how to apply for the online form. If I was educated enough to do that, why would I work as a daily wage worker?” he said.
Geeta (36), a construction worker from Rohini, said applied in September and paid someone to get her registration done, “but my form was rejected twice. It is pending even after making corrections”.
Like Geeta and Saran, many construction workers in the city have been left out of the registration system due to various reasons. Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board data shows that till August 2023, the city had about four lakh registered construction workers. This number, however, has drastically dropped since then.
According to the board’s website, Delhi currently has only 81,000 registered construction workers. While workers’ unions claim the drop is due to loopholes in the online registration system, board officials say very few construction workers are turning up for registration.
Thaneshwar Dayal Adigaur, member of Delhi Asangathit Nirman Mazdoor Union, said, “In the past few months, the number of registered construction workers has been dropping every month. Going by this trend, it would not be surprising if the board website will show zero construction workers soon.”
According to Adigaur, construction workers find it “too difficult” to apply as the registration is online and “complicated”. “The few who do apply after taking other people’s help often see their form stuck due to some error,” he added.
Registration of construction workers was done offline earlier. The process has gone online now. The registration is valid for one year and has to be renewed every year. One must furnish personal information as well as details of bank and family members for the process.
According to general secretary of the welfare board, Arun Kumar Jha, “The registration process started in 2005. Since then, a total of 13.5 lakh construction workers have been registered. So, the process is not difficult. However, it is true that due to errors in the forms, many do get rejected.”
However, he added, “The major reason (for registrations dropping) is the low turnout. We do not know the exact reason behind it. The board has set up an IT desk in all districts to get construction workers registered, but barely anyone turns up.”
On January 7, Delhi high court directed the member secretary of the board to take “proactive steps” to ensure the maximum number of construction workers in the city are registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996.
A board official said, “We have already written to PWD and MCD to encourage registrations. We will also have a meeting with the stakeholders to take their suggestions and understand why registrations are low.”
