New workers welfare board office at Balichowki to benefit 20,000 locals

Nardev Singh Kanwar, Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, inaugurated a sub-office of the board at Balichowki in Mandi district yesterday. Vijay Pal Singh, member of the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, was the special guest on the occasion.

Kanwar said that the opening of this office was made possible due to the vision of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. He added that nearly 50 panchayats in the Seraj region were located far from the district headquarters and as a result, workers had to spend an entire day to complete official formalities. The new office, he added, would directly benefit more than 20,000 residents of these panchayats.

Kanwar said that the building was a gift from the Chief Minister and its aim was to enable workers to easily access information and welfare schemes. At present, the board operates 14 welfare schemes for registered workers in the state. Around 12,000 workers from Balichowki block are registered with the board and benefiting from these schemes.

Kanwar said that in the past two years, the registered workers in Balichowki block had received around Rs 2.40 crore in financial assistance, including Rs 89.32 lakh to 371 workers under the Education Assistance Scheme, Rs 89.25 lakh to 175 workers under the Marriage Assistance Scheme, Rs 14.26 lakh to 57 workers under the Maternity Assistance Scheme and Rs 1.32 lakh to three workers under the Medical Assistance Scheme. Besides, the families of 20 deceased workers were provided with around Rs 46 lakh in compensation.

He said that around 92,700 workers were registered with the board in Mandi district. He urged all eligible workers to register promptly to avail of benefits. He alleged that irregularities were committed during the previous BJP government in 2021 when about 72,000 fake registrations were made and the board was financially burdened. Instructions were issued for the completion of physical verification by December 31, with aid to be released within 15 days to the verified beneficiaries.

The first registration at the Balichowki office was done in the name of Meera Devi of Guran village. Two board employees, whose houses were damaged in the recent floods, were given Rs 35,000 each as relief. Several officials and dignitaries were present on the occasion.