Over one lakh yet to get Rs 5,000 lockdown dole

Nearly a year after the Covid-19 lockdown snatched livelihoods, thousands of construction workers, barbers and washermen are yet to receive the direct cash benefit of Rs 5,000 the state government had promised.

According to data tabled in the Assembly in response to a question, the government had stated that compensation for at least one lakh construction workers and 14,000 washermen and barbers is still pending.

To a question query raised by MLA S A Ramadas, Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar stated that the compensation is pending for 1,02,034 unorganised construction workers and 14,719 washermen and barbers. In case of washermen and barbers, the pending applications are due to “technical glitches,” the government said. As for the construction workers, applications have been kept pending owing to an ongoing writ petition in the High Court.

These pending applications are aside from the 16.48 lakh construction workers and 1.19 lakh barbers and washermen who have received the compensation, the government said. In May 2020, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had announced a special package comprising a one-time cash compensation to various groups.

Speaking to DH, Appanna, state president of Karnataka Progressive Construction Workers Association, a workers’ body under All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU), explained that the problem was two-fold.

Bogus applications

“One issue is that the labour department received about 7 lakh applications between March and June 2020, with several suspected to be bogus. Hence, we have requested the department to verify before processing applications,” he said.

“The second issue is that many construction workers have not linked their bank accounts with Aadhaar and hence, their payment is stuck. There are many genuine beneficiaries left out of the loop as several of them still don’t have bank accounts,” he added. That apart, more than 10,000 beneficiaries are yet to receive benefits under various welfare schemes covered by the Karnataka Unorganised Construction Workers Welfare Board. These include monetary support provided by the government for these workers for various purposes including education, wedding, funeral, among others.

No phones for OTP

“During the lockdown, the benefits were not given on time. Moreover, to register under the Board, a person must apply online and an OTP is sent to his or her phone. Many workers do not have phones with them. Several remain out of the purview of the system owing to this problem,” the association leader said.