Delhi govt announces free bus travel for construction workers

The Delhi government has decided to provide free bus passes to construction workers, in a move that is expected to benefit around 10 lakh labourers. 

State Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday distributed the passes to some construction workers at a function held at the Delhi Secretariat. 

“Ten lakh workers have been registered in Delhi. In the last one year, the Kejriwal government distributed ₹600 crore among the 10 lakh registered workers (under various welfare schemes), which is the highest amount distributed among workers in the entire country,” he said at the event. 

Interacting with some beneficiaries, he asked them to spend the money they would save due to bus passes being made free on their families. 

After the event, he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI: “All construction labourers earlier had to spend somewhere between ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 per month for travel. Now the government has decided to make bus travel free for such labourers. This will benefit about 10 lakh labourers in the state.”

Construction workers include masons, painters, welders, carpenters, crane operators among others.

Earlier last month, the Delhi government released a grant worth ₹11.6 crore to 23,256 workers who had been affected by the recent ban on construction activities due to air pollution.

This grant was announced by the government last November. The workers could not receive the amount till April due to a "glitch" in connection with their bank accounts. 

Every construction worker who completed the bank amendment till 23 March this year has received ₹5,000 in the current instalment, as per a statement by the government. 

In the first phase, the government had provided an assistance of ₹245 crore to 4.92 lakh workers registered with the Delhi Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Board, immediately after the ban was announced in November, the government said.

After this, an amount of ₹41.9 crore was distributed to 83,000 workers on Holi this year.