Nagaland: Construction workers unaware of their rights, obligations, schemes

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Henlly Phom Odyuo
Dimapur, Dec. 19 (EMN): There are several welfare schemes like tool grant, insurance coverage, medical assistance, education scholarship, and maternity benefits available for manual labourers registered with the Nagaland Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (NBOCWWB) but it appears like many are still unaware of such programmes.

Any worker above 18 years of age and below 60 years engaged as mason, plumber, carpenter, electrician, painter, driver, operator and helper of construction machineries, to name a few, can avail the schemes.

Bhim, 32, who is a carpenter, plumber, electrician, and also lends his hand in painting houses apart from constructing houses, told Eastern Mirror that he came to know about schemes for the construction workers through a well-wisher and has been availing the benefits for some years now.

He thanked the government for the welfare schemes provided for those engaged in the construction industry.

However, his neighbour, Samuel, also a construction worker, said that he was not aware of the schemes available until recently.

‘It was only this year that I got to know about the welfare schemes available for workers like us. The previous group of people that I worked with had no idea about the schemes so no one talked about it. It was only after I shifted my house next to Bhim that I got to know. Most of the workers living in our area know about the schemes and are also beneficiaries,’ he said. 

‘The workers live in Nagaland-Assam border but identify themselves as residents of Dimapur. Raising awareness while guaranteeing good governance and building trust should be the focus of departments in-charge of workers like us as we are illiterate with no one to tell us,’ they conveyed.

A group of workers in Dimapur district said that both the workers and their employers need to know about welfare schemes; their rights and obligations; and how to access the schemes so that the funds meant for them do not go into wrong hands.  

Information gap

‘Most of us are not aware of our rights and also face difficulties in accessing information as there is no one to inform us. At times we change our contact numbers and do not remember to update so that is also another reason that we fail to avail the schemes. Also, the location of the office is also an issue for us,’ the workers lamented. 

The main barriers according to them were lack of information and awareness, illiteracy, distance (between govt. office and their location), complex documents required and lack of trust in the system.

‘We are not sure if we will be selected as beneficiaries even after going through all the formalities and complex paperwork, as it is widely understood and practiced in the state or anywhere that if you don’t have connections (with officials), you don’t get any benefits,’ they opined.

When the workers were informed that the registration for availing the card as beneficiary was time-bound, they replied that it was another issue for them as most of the time, they were not aware of the date of application as they have no one to inform them about it.

On the possible solution to the issue they face, the workers suggested that the concerned department take their time out to organise awareness programmes or visit construction sites where most of the workers will be found.

‘Through word of mouth, we can be informed and updated,’ they assured.

Inactive members stand at 34,000

Nagaland Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (NBOCWWB) Chairman, Dr. Kekhrie Yhome, meanwhile, stated that 1283 villages have been recognised by the government of Nagaland and that his team was actively involved in sensitising the people about the various benefits available for the builders and construction workers, wherein beneficiaries are identified and guided in availing the benefits available.

While urging the workers to take up work in building and construction industry, saying that it has the potential to sustain one’s livelihood, he pointed out that there are about 12,500 active beneficiaries and about 34000 inactive members in the state, as many are rendered ‘inactive’ after failing to renew their membership. 

“The main objective of NBOCWWB is to register, provide welfare assistance to ease the burden of building and other construction workers from every nook and corner of the state,” he said.

Yhome lamented that there is no district which was particularly aware of the welfare schemes for the construction workers but comparatively, Mon is “a bit better” because of the Common Service Centre in the district, which is assisting people in various e-services and access to public utility.

E-governance, he said, was important as people in the rural areas and remote locations do not have access to information, computer or internet.

While acknowledging that the NBOCWWB has a lot of work to do for the builders and construction workers, he said the priorities, at present, were to create awareness not just in districts but in the field where genuine workers work, collaborate with the Labour department and district administration, and profiling of workers.

“With profiling of workers, if we can come up with statistics, it would facilitate the workers as making ‘skilled Nagaland’ is a priority and needs to be worked on,” he said.

He pointed out that labour unions in other states provide strong support to the builders and construction workers, ‘but Nagaland has no such unions or any of that kind, so it is also not easy to identify each and every worker’.

Yhome observed that most of the genuine workers in rural and remote areas are not aware of the schemes available for them and suggested that the department work on focusing not just in the districts but also block-wise so that genuine workers are not missed out.