Pon Kumar, Chairman of Tamil Nadu Construction Workers Welfare Board, held a consultation meeting with trade unions at the Coimbatore District Collector's office, discussing various welfare schemes and benefits for construction workers.
Coimbatore: A consultation meeting with trade unions, led by Pon Kumar, Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Construction Workers Welfare Board, was held today at the Coimbatore District Collector's office.
District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati, welfare board employees, and representatives from various trade unions participated in the meeting.
Grievances from trade union members were heard and addressed during the consultation, and welfare scheme benefits were distributed to workers at the end.
Pon Kumar, addressing the gathering, said, "Following the Chief Minister's directive to ensure the smooth functioning of board activities, review meetings are being conducted in all districts. There were no new schemes introduced during the ten-year AIADMK rule. Moreover, the benefits announced during the 2006-2011 DMK government were not increased. After the DMK government came to power, accident compensation has been raised from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh. Educational assistance has been doubled. Marriage assistance has been increased from ₹5,000 to ₹20,000. Maternity benefits have been raised from ₹6,000 to ₹18,000. Additionally, homeless construction workers are provided ₹4 lakh free of cost to build their own houses."
He further added, "If children of construction workers pursue higher education in institutions like IIT or IIM, the government bears the college and hostel fees and provides ₹50,000 annually. In case of a worker's death, the board covers the entire cost of transporting the body to their hometown. Workers suffering from incurable diseases receive a monthly assistance of ₹1,000."
Pon Kumar also highlighted, "Since the DMK government came to power, welfare benefits worth nearly ₹1,600 crore have been distributed through various boards. In the past three years, about 11 lakh workers have newly registered with the Construction Workers Welfare Board alone. In Coimbatore, 1,49,000 workers have been registered so far, with 42,000 new registrations since the DMK government took office. Moreover, welfare benefits worth ₹66 crore have been distributed to about 42,000 workers."
Addressing concerns about missing data and documents, Kumar clarified, "It's unfortunate that some media reported workers' data and documents were lost, causing delays in receiving benefits. Workers' data is stored in computers. It's true that some workers' documents were lost due to rain and computer malfunctions. We can't blame anyone for the computer breakdown."
Kumar emphasized the uniqueness of Tamil Nadu's welfare system, stating, "No other state in India has 18 welfare boards like Tamil Nadu. That's why we call it the Dravidian model of governance. Many find this bitter. As an expression of this bitterness, the Union Finance Minister from Tamil Nadu didn't mention a word about the state in the budget speech."
He also touched upon various issues, including the Coimbatore Metro Rail project, Tamil Nadu's performance in NITI Aayog rankings, and the registration of migrant workers from other states. Kumar concluded by assuring that retired workers would receive pensions for their lifetime.
District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati, welfare board employees, and representatives from various trade unions participated in the meeting.
Grievances from trade union members were heard and addressed during the consultation, and welfare scheme benefits were distributed to workers at the end.
Pon Kumar, addressing the gathering, said, "Following the Chief Minister's directive to ensure the smooth functioning of board activities, review meetings are being conducted in all districts. There were no new schemes introduced during the ten-year AIADMK rule. Moreover, the benefits announced during the 2006-2011 DMK government were not increased. After the DMK government came to power, accident compensation has been raised from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh. Educational assistance has been doubled. Marriage assistance has been increased from ₹5,000 to ₹20,000. Maternity benefits have been raised from ₹6,000 to ₹18,000. Additionally, homeless construction workers are provided ₹4 lakh free of cost to build their own houses."
He further added, "If children of construction workers pursue higher education in institutions like IIT or IIM, the government bears the college and hostel fees and provides ₹50,000 annually. In case of a worker's death, the board covers the entire cost of transporting the body to their hometown. Workers suffering from incurable diseases receive a monthly assistance of ₹1,000."
Pon Kumar also highlighted, "Since the DMK government came to power, welfare benefits worth nearly ₹1,600 crore have been distributed through various boards. In the past three years, about 11 lakh workers have newly registered with the Construction Workers Welfare Board alone. In Coimbatore, 1,49,000 workers have been registered so far, with 42,000 new registrations since the DMK government took office. Moreover, welfare benefits worth ₹66 crore have been distributed to about 42,000 workers."
Addressing concerns about missing data and documents, Kumar clarified, "It's unfortunate that some media reported workers' data and documents were lost, causing delays in receiving benefits. Workers' data is stored in computers. It's true that some workers' documents were lost due to rain and computer malfunctions. We can't blame anyone for the computer breakdown."
Kumar emphasized the uniqueness of Tamil Nadu's welfare system, stating, "No other state in India has 18 welfare boards like Tamil Nadu. That's why we call it the Dravidian model of governance. Many find this bitter. As an expression of this bitterness, the Union Finance Minister from Tamil Nadu didn't mention a word about the state in the budget speech."
He also touched upon various issues, including the Coimbatore Metro Rail project, Tamil Nadu's performance in NITI Aayog rankings, and the registration of migrant workers from other states. Kumar concluded by assuring that retired workers would receive pensions for their lifetime.