On Lines Of Developed Foreign Countries, Labourers To Go To Work Place In Their Own Vehicles

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In developed countries, labourers reach the worksite on their vehicles. The same scenario will be seen shortly in Madhya Pradesh, as Labour department has prepared a scheme to provide subsidy of Rs 40,000 to labourers to purchase electric scooters. The aim of scheme is to provide mobility to the labourers.

The vehicle subsidy will be provided to only those labourers who are registered with Building and Other Construction Workers Board (BOCB). There are around 18.5 lakh registered labourers in the state.   Sources in Labour department said that choice of electric two-wheeler has been left to the labourer concerned.

“The subsidy will be provided to labourers after they purchase the electric scooter. After buying the vehicle, labourers have to make an online claim for subsidy subsidy by uploading vehicle bill and other documents. The documents will be cross-checked through a central portal to prevent bogus claims.

Upon verification, subsidy money will be transferred into the bank account of labourers,” said a senior officer of the labour department. This officer added that to ensure that labourers should not become proxy buyers for some other person, the scheme has created a rider. After buying the vehicle, the labourer will not be allowed to sell it for the next three years. Another condition is that labourer shall have a minimum registration of five years with BOCB.  

The scheme covers both men and women labourers. Labour department officials said several subsidy claims have already been made and more are expected in the coming months.

Principal Secretary of Labour department, Umakant Umrao told Free Press that the scheme will provide mobility to labourers registered with Building and Other Construction Board. Applications have started arriving online. Madhya Pradesh is the pioneering state with any such scheme for labourers.