Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday announced a slew of measures for workers that included free accident insurance of Rs. 5 lakh covering a range of workers and Skill Building Centres (SBC) under the aegis of National Academy of Construction (NAC) in all the 10 districts.
He told a gathering at the Ravindra Bharathi, where the official May Day celebrations were held, that every driver in the private sector, be it those driving autorickshaws, cars, lorries or buses, would be covered under the accident insurance scheme.
Scheme for Home Guards, journalists
Also included are about 16,000 home guards and approximately 12,000 journalists, apart from construction workers.
Mr. Rao recalled how the Telangana government had rolled out a scheme under which Rs. 1,000 a month was paid to 3.70 lakh woman beedi workers as a kind of pension although it would mean an expenditure of Rs. 450 crore annually. Also, maternity benefit for construction workers was increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000, he said.
Once the SBCs were set up, he said the Centre could chip in with more assistance.
He invited the attention of Union Minister of State for Labour Bandaru Dattatreya, who was sitting beside him, to help arrange practical training for ITI students and engineering graduates with a stipend.
Mr. Rao wanted Mr. Dattatreya to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, together with the Union Industries Minister, and work out how Telangana could benefit from Central schemes.
He recalled how as Union Labour Minister, he had introduced a scheme for sanction of unemployment allowance to people for four months a year between jobs.
Earlier, Mr. Dattatreya said every effort was being made by the Centre under the leadership of Mr. Modi to see that labour laws were being adhered to.
The Centre will not tolerate those who rob workers of their rights.
