Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of being anti-labor by denying financial aid to construction workers.

Citing that the second phase of GRAP-4 has been reimposed due to pollution concerns, once again suspending construction activities, he said this has rendered 20 lakh workers in Delhi unemployed, placing their families in a severe livelihood crisis.

Advertisement

He claimed that the AAP government recently promised to provide a one-time financial aid of Rs 8,000 to 90,759 workers registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (DBOCWWB), but no worker has received the promised amount.

“Some have received only Rs 2,000, while others have received nothing. Additionally, aid for 12,000 workers was returned because their bank accounts were not linked with Aadhaar,” Gupta said.

The Leader of Opposition further said, “If these workers were educated enough to know how to link their bank accounts with Aadhaar, they wouldn’t be working as laborers.”

He said the government should adopt a compassionate policy and provide financial aid while advising them to link their accounts with Aadhaar for future assistance.

“The AAP government itself has admitted that 11 lakh construction workers currently working in Delhi are not registered with DBOCWWB. All these 11 lakh workers should be provided immediate financial assistance and their registration process initiated without delay,” Gupta said.

He alleged that despite DBOCWWB having a fund of Rs 4,500 crore collected as labor cess, neither financial assistance is being provided to workers nor has the AAP government launched any new welfare schemes for them in the past nine years.