The newly launched ‘Shramik Bandhu’ facilitation centre at the KSRTC bus terminal complex has elicited positive response from guest workers in the region.
Close to a 100 workers have visited the facility, established by the Labour and Skills Department, since its launch on Thursday. The centre, believed to be the first-of-its-kind in the country, is targeted to become a one-stop shop for delivery of services meant for guest workers in the State.
The Labour Department is all set to launch similar facilities at Perumbavoor and in Kozhikode as part of the pilot project, following which they will be extended to all district centres in the State.
The facilitation centre enabled workers to enrol for the ‘Aawaz’ insurance scheme, which had been rolled out by the State government for those from other States. Around 80 people have registered for the scheme through the centre, according to Anupam Das, a facilitator at the centre, who volunteers for Shramik Kalyan Kendra, a wing of Don Bosco Veedu Society.
He added the centre would also accept complaints and grievances regarding job and wage disputes. It received its first complaint a day ago.
Insurance scheme
According to K. Dileep Kumar, District Labour Officer (Enforcement), biometric identity cards were being issued as part of the insurance scheme, which had been formally launched on November 1, 2017. Around 2.5 lakh guest workers had enrolled for the scheme in the State as of yet. The information collected would be shared with Kerala Police, whenever necessary.
Under the scheme, the insurance holder stood to receive free medical treatment worth ₹15,000 a year at all government hospitals and empanelled private hospitals. It also included an insurance coverage of ₹2 lakh for accident deaths.
180 enrolment camps
He added that around 180 enrolment camps had been organised in various parts of the district.
Awareness programmes had also been conducted near construction sites and other places in the city and suburbs, which have been found to have high concentration of guest workers in the district.
Mr. Kumar also said that efforts were on to enable enrolment for Aadhaar cards at the facilitation centre. Aadhaar cards were necessary for registering for the Aawaz insurance scheme.
