Noida: Labour department begins DBT to workers’ accounts, releases over Rs 1.5 crore via DBT
NOIDA: District authorities have started disbursing financial assistance to labour workers in the state, in the wake of the nationwide lockdown, and said they have so far transferred more than Rs 75 lakh to bank accounts of 7,522 workers. However, the district labour department said it does not have bank account details of a majority of workers registered with it, which has led to a scramble to transfer the doles.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier ordered that each labour worker registered with district labour departments be given Rs 1,000, to help them tide over unemployment during the lockdown imposed last week to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration said it has released over Rs 1.5 crore so far, which is being paid to workers through DBT (direct benefit transfer) to workers’ bank accounts, officials said.
Gautam Budh Nagar deputy commissioner (labour), Pradeep Kumar Singh, said that of 194,611 workers registered with the district labour department, around 20,000 account numbers are available.
Apart from workers into whose accounts the funds have already been transferred, the district treasury has also transferred funds to 8,322 other bank accounts in the district. The remaining accounts will receive the funds by Wednesday, officials said.
However, they said they were making efforts to arrange the account details of the nearly 1.70 lakh workers that were unavailable in their databases.
“We sent the bank details of another 8,322 workers to different banks on Sunday, with a cheque from the district treasury office. It will be credited to their accounts on Monday. For the remaining workers who have not submitted their bank accounts with the labour department, we are using their mobile phone numbers, to contact them through phone calls, text messages and WhatsApp messages. After getting their bank details, we will immediately send this financial assistance to them,” he said.
Singh also said all construction companies and other firms have been asked to share their workers’ bank account details.
“We have also asked them to comply with the government orders to not deduct their salaries,” he said.
“As per the orders from the government, we will provide them food and shelter,” he said.
He said other measures have been put in motion to try and arrange workers’ bank account details. “As per the government’s orders, the money from this fund can be used only for registered workers, mostly from the organised sector. We have released four helpline numbers on which workers can share their account details. However, we will verify the veracity of the workers who call,” he said.
He also said the labour department is repeatedly making appeals, through all business establishments in Gautam Budh Nagar, to all workers, asking them not to leave for the hometowns.
However, some workers said they haven’t been informed about the state’s financial assistance plans at all.
“No one told us about financial assistance being given out. Otherwise, why would we walk all this way with our children,” said Ganesh Kumar, a daily wage worker who hails from Bihar.
Echoing his sentiments, Kishan Das of West Bengal, a plumber who worked with a construction company in Sector 63, said that despite being registered with the district labour department, he has not received calls or message so far.
“They have my bank account details, but no transfer has reflected in it so far,” he said.