Construction workers in Maharashtra can now register themselves online

Mumbai: Construction workers in Maharashtra can now register themselves online but will have to visit a district or taluka facilitation centre for biometric and document verification, a state minister said on Wednesday.

To support this initiative, 366 taluka facilitation centres have been established across the state and the service officially commenced from Wednesday, Labour Minister Akash Pandurang Fundkar said.

Integrated Welfare Board Management System (IWBMS), an online system, facilitates registration, renewal as well as distribution of benefits for construction workers. Previously, these services were handled at the district-level Building and Other Construction Workers Facilitation Centres, he said.

"After the new notification issued by the central government, the state has now established 366 taluka centres, each capable of processing up to 150 applications per day," he said.

Since the launch of these centres on November 8 last year, a total of 5,12,581 applications have been processed online, he said.

Overcrowding at some centres generally leads to long waiting time and loss of daily wages for workers. To address these issues and enhance convenience, efficiency and transparency, revised instructions have been issued, he said.

"If a worker faces delay in getting an appointment at the district facilitation centre for benefit distribution applications, he will be given an earlier date at the nearest taluka centre," Fundkar said.

Apart from that, taluka-level facilitation centres will be expanded in those districts that report high demand. In each district centre, three out of five staff members will serve as entry operators, while the remaining two will handle data entry and modification requests for workers, the minister said.

All pending applications will be resolved by the end of this month as a coordination unit has been established at the board level to oversee the process, he added.