Chairman of Tamil Nadu Construction Workers Welfare Board (TNCWWB), Pon Kumar, informed the media that the board has 13,41,494 registered members. Around 20 lakh labourers are still not registered with the board.

Kumar said they would conduct an inquiry to find out the reasons for not registering. In the meantime, a special drive would be carried out to enrol the unregistered members. He said they are also making online registration more simple.

He added that the board would require employing registered members in each government construction project in the state. It would ensure that insurance covers the labourers and give a safety net for their families if the worker meets any accident.

Moreover, Kumar till now, private builders paid a 1% labour cess, utilised for the welfare of the workers. However, it has not been received from government projects.

He said now they would ask the contractors taking government projects to pay the labour cess without fail. It would improve the corpus fund and assist them to enhance the financial support.

Currently, the family of a registered member who dies due to natural causes is provided aid of Rs 25,000. The board plans to make it Rs 1 lakh.

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