According to recent Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2019-20 estimates, there are around 11 lakh construction workers working in Delhi. However, when the first wave of COVID-19 infections hit Delhi in May, 2020, the Delhi government was able to provide welfare benefits to only 39,000 construction workers who were then registered with Delhi Construction Board.
At that time, the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (DBOCWWB) was a typical government department marred by issues like an exclusively offline mode of registrations, high levels of corruption and delays in routine processes, resulting in only one or two workers receiving any welfare claim benefits per month across Delhi.
The Delhi Construction Board had a corpus fund of 3,200 crores which was lying idle and not being utilised for the welfare of construction workers.
However, there is no government department that is non-functional or beyond repair. With systemic reforms, right intentions and the convergence of political and bureaucratic vision, any government department can be reformed.
The Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board was formed in 2002 under the the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, to undertake welfare and social security measures for registered construction workers in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
In October, 2020, the charge of the Delhi government’s labour department was transferred to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who wanted to initiate a series of reforms in the department. I was appointed a fellow and my colleague, Swati Dey, was appointed as a research consultant to advise the deputy chief minister on labour-related issues prevailing in Delhi.
We started visiting the labour department’s district offices where workers were standing in line from 3 am just to get their labour cards renewed. On paper, this process was made ‘online’, which resulted in workers having to pay over Rs 2,500 to touts to fill online forms (the government fee for the renewal of labour cards is only Rs 25).
Long queues outside a labour department office in Delhi. Photo: Harshil Sharma.
Even if the workers came to labour offices after paying such high amounts, they were told by officers that the internet was not working, the website has crashed, servers are not working and so on. The website designed was on an outdated web portal with decades-old servers.
During these visits. a few workers who were not performing their duties were even suspended.
To make the process transparent and easy for construction workers, the whole application process was shifted online from August, 2021. The registration process became a faceless transaction service and no worker had to stand in lines for registration.
The Board is also in the process of transforming the online process for applying for claims. Over 5 lakh old files of the Construction Board, kept at the district offices, have been digitised with QR codes so no records or files go missing. Paid servers were hired to resolve the website issues and a private vendor was recently hired to develop a new web portal to permanently resolve server and website issues.
Stacks of the Delhi Construction Board’s records. Photo: Harshil Sharma.
Hitesh Kukreja, state operations lead, Delhi of NGO Indus Action, explains, “We aided the Delhi Construction Board in organising massive registration camps for construction workers at different labour chowks, labour settlements and construction sites over the past year. Our NGO, Indus Action, assisted the Board in launching 24/7 helpline to develop a grievance redressal mechanism for construction workers to provide them with information related to registration, renewal and welfare benefits.”
Improvements in welfare distribution
The process of availing welfare benefits under various schemes of the Board has been made easier. The Board has 14 running welfare schemes related to education, health, pension, maternity leave, accidents, death and the like. The process for applying for these schemes was reformed and the number of documents required for registration has been significantly reduced.
However, the delivery of these welfare claims in a time-bound manner is still a problem the Board needs to resolve, and this can be done if the claims process shifts to the online mode.
Major welfare claims and ex-gratia benefits disbursed by the Board in the last two years:
| S.No | Welfare Description | Amount disbursed in Rs | Total number of beneficiary construction workers | Total welfare amount disbursed |
| 1. | Ex-gratia financial assistance in first COVID wave, May, 2020 | 10,000 | 1,18,256 | 118 cr |
| 2. | Ex-gratia financial assistance in second COVID wave, May, 2021 | 5,000 | 3,17,012 | 159 cr |
| 3. | Ex-gratia financial assistance during pollution ban on construction activities in Delhi in November, 2021 | 5,000 | 5,78,141 | 290 cr |
| 4. | Educational financial assistance to children of construction workers studying in Delhi government schools | Different amounts for different classes | 15,791 | 12 cr |
| 5. | Welfare claims benefits related to maternity, education, health, marriage, pension, death, disability etc. between Jan 2021-May 2022 | Different amounts for different claims | 2,365 | 15.5 cr |
Source: DBOCWWB official website data
Every contractor/employer has to submit a cess at the rate of 1% of total building cost to the labour department to be used for the welfare activities of construction workers. Cess collection rates in Delhi had not been updated in 16 years, so 2006 cess rates were revised to the current Central Public Works Department (CPWD) cess collection rates.
This year, the Delhi Construction Board wants to focus on designing and launching new schemes for construction workers (detailed in the table below) which seek to focus on problems that construction workers face at construction sites beyond the existing financial support schemes.
| S.No | Scheme Name | Description | Expected Launch |
| 1. | Free bus pass for construction workers | All construction workers can ride for local travel for free | Launched on 1st May |
| 2. | Skill Development of Construction Workers | With assistance from the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University, five courses for construction workers have been designed for on-the-job up-skilling of construction workers | July, 2022 |
| 3. | Creches/Daycare centres at Construction Sites | Coordinating with the CSO’s running day care centres at construction sites and also using those spaces to conduct training and recreation activities for construction workers | August, 2022 |
| 4. | Doctor on Wheels | Free health check-ups for workers at construction sites | September, 2022 |
Source: DBOCWWB
Persisting issues
“Indeed, through many reforms in the department, the number of construction workers registered with the Board has increased from 40,000 in May, 2020 to over 10 lakh today,” said Thaneshwar Dayal Adigaur, secretary of Delhi Asangathit Nirmaan Mazdoor union and a member of the Board’s advisory committee.
“But the Board is still struggling to resolve existing problems, like the nexus between touts and local office employees; the need to weed out the registrations of non-construction workers from the data pool of registered workers; and the need to carry out social audits, for which round-table discussions with trade unions and NGO’s should be held from time to time,” he continued.
Other issues prevailing on the ground are the delayed delivery of claims; lengthy periods of time taken to dispose of applications; pending verifications or audits of registered construction workers; and many pending court cases on various claim-related issues.
These are a few issues that should be top priorities for the Delhi Construction Board in order for it to emerge as model welfare board in the country.
Harshil Sharma is a research consultant for the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
