Chief minister Naveen Patnaik greets Union minister of labour and employment Bandaru Dattatreya (extreme right) in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

Dattatreya has urged the Odisha government to increase spending from central funds allocated under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, for the welfare of construction workers.

"We need to do more to ensure social security of all construction workers who are exploited for their lack of skills," he said, speaking at the two-day National Labour Conference here on Tuesday. Officials of various states, labour unions representatives and officials of labour welfare boards of 29 states are attending the conference.

Dattatreya said the one per cent cess collected under the Construction Workers' Act from the state government for the welfare of construction workers was grossly under spent.

Naveen said Odisha had been playing a pivotal role in the development of regulatory framework for the labour sector. He said that back in 1956, the Odisha Shops and Commercial Establishment Act was enacted to safeguard the interests of the employees working in shops and establishments.

Naveen said there were several challenges before the state to improve the condition of labourers.

He said that of late, the state government had decided to set up state helpdesks in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi. He also said the state government had formulated a state action plan for elimination of child labour by involving 10 state departments. The action plan focussed on rescue, rehabilitation, education and skill development of rescued minors and action against the offending employers.