Electricians, plumbers, carpenters and other registered labourers of the Delhi Construction Workers’ Board will soon be able to travel in public buses for free. To push the current ‘free bus’ scheme for construction workers, which was flagged off this May, the labour department is developing an online portal with workers’ register, for application and renewal of the bus pass. Launched as a “Labour Day present”, under the free bus pass scheme, the government promised to provide a subsidised bus pass with a validity of three months. “The previous scheme was limited to a particular section and many could not avail of the facility. The government has decided to extend it to make it accessible for all registered workers. Besides construction workers, plumbers, carpenters, masons, and painters will be provided subsidised bus passes," said Labour Minister Raaj Kumar Anand. The decision was taken following the directions of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who directed the labour department to review the functioning of the Delhi Building And Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and instructed the officials to formulate an action plan to utilise at least 25% of its funds on workers’ welfare this year. The Labour Minister also said work on the online portal is almost completed. "It is an ongoing process, but the department will soon create awareness about the free bus pass facility through advertisements, SMS, IVR and help desks. So, labourers can get their passes made and commute for free,” said Anand. Currently, subsidised passes are issued on a quarterly basis for three months, according to which labourers have to apply four times a year. The cost of a quarterly e-pass is Rs 2,280 for non-airconditioned and Rs 2,850 for AC buses, and Rs 33 is charged as delivery charges for conventional passes in case any passenger wants a printed copy of the pass and has it delivered to his/her house. "The government said there are 10-13 lakh registered construction workers in Delhi. So, the subsidy for three months is likely to cost the government around Rs 228 crore to Rs 285 crore," said a Delhi Transport Commission (DTC) official. The construction workers’ board had set up 34 registration booths earlier to help labourers get passes. "At present, only 5-10% of the total registered construction workers travel by bus for work and hardly 2-5% travel from Metro. Mostly, they live near the work site or travel by cycle. But, we believe that this time more of them will register for the bus pass. The scheme will also increase accessibility to jobs," said a board official. The Labour Minister further said the department has also started initial work on the proposal to provide housing and hostel facilities to construction workers and labourers. "We have started the work to identify space and locations for setting up the hostel facility. Once locations are identified, further processes will start," he said.
