Over 1.8 million beedi, cine and non-coal mine workers benefited from Labour Welfare Scheme

Over 1.8 million beedi workers, cine workers and non-coal mine workers benefited from the Labour Welfare Scheme (LWS), with the ministry of labour and employment spending Rs 8.50 crore in 2023-24 under the scheme.

Besides, 96,051 wards of these workers benefited under education scheme with the Centre incurring an expenditure of Rs 30.68 crore in the last fiscal years, the ministry of labour and employment said on Saturday.

Labour secretary Sumita Dawra chaired a review meeting of the Labour Welfare Scheme (LWS), being run by the ministry, on Friday for beedi, cine and non-coal mine workers.

The scheme is implemented through 18 labour welfare organisation (LWO) regions, headed by welfare commissioners under the administrative control of the Directorate General of Labour Welfare.

“The meeting reviewed the significant achievements of the Labour Welfare Scheme, focusing on the various benefits provided to these workers and their families,” it said.

Under the scheme, health care facilities are provided through 10 hospitals and 279 dispensaries operational under 18 LWO regions across the country, covering critical diseases with reimbursements and subsistence allowances.

Under the education scheme, financial assistance is provided for the education of workers and their wards, covering various levels from primary to professional courses which is implemented through the online portal, the National Scholarship Portal and benefits are disbursed through direct benefit transfer mode.

As per the statement, secretary Dawra emphasized on the need for continuous efforts to enhance the welfare of these workers and urged the officials to work collaboratively to ensure effective implementation and to explore new initiatives for expanding social security and improving ease of living and business.

Reiterating the importance of close coordination with the state governments to create a robust and efficient social security system for these workers, Dawra said the centre has already directed all states and UTs to extend social security coverage under various schemes for insurance, health benefit, disability coverage to them.

“The centre is working on building a comprehensive database to assess coverage under both central and state schemes for the beedi workers, non-coal mine and cine workers who are in the informal sector,” she said, adding that the objective is to on board all on E-Shram and facilitate their access to the various social security schemes.