Bhubaneswar, Feb. 21: The state government today announced a package of sops, including the launch of Nirman Shramik Pucca Ghar Yojana and a monthly pension of Rs 500, for construction workers.

Under the scheme, the construction workers, who have been registered for minimum five years, will be eligible to get Rs 1 lakh as housing grant. Besides, they will also get a monthly pension of Rs 500 on attaining the age of 60 years.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik made these announcements in the Assembly on the eve of the state-level Nirman Shramik Seva Divas function. The state has more than three lakh registered construction workers in the organised sectors. The government has already set up a separate board and floated a fund to provide assistance to the building and construction workers. Naveen also announced the enhancement of assistance for purchase of working tolls from Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per beneficiary.

The government has also decided that migrant construction workers will be covered with Rs 1 lakh ex gratia in case of an accidental death during the course of employment. Besides, an assistance up to Rs 50,000 will also be given to meet the treatment cost in case of any grievous work related injury even if the workers are not registered under the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board.

The workers, who are registered under the board, are eligible for a host of social security benefits. These include Rs 1 lakh for home loan with only 2 per cent interest rate, health insurance of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 1.5 lakh of accident benefit for total disability, Rs 80,000 for partial disability, Rs 2 lakh for accidental demise, and Rs 1 lakh for natural death. An assistance of Rs 5,000 will also be given for performing the last rites of a construction worker. Besides, maternity benefits and assistance for marriage and education of their children are also available.

On January 7, the government relaxed the eligibility criteria of the beneficiaries. Earlier, the minimum period for registration of a construction worker for the purchase of a bicycle had been three years, which was reduced to one year.

Besides, the minimum period of registration for one year that is required for the purchase of safety equipment and working tools as well as for death benefits (in case of natural death) was also waived.

The government had also announced a daily wage compensation of Rs 200 for registered workers, who would get training under the skill development scheme. This daily compensation will be given during the training period.

Maternity benefit for the workers was doubled to Rs 8,000, while the marriage assistance was increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

The education assistance for their children was also raised. Students of Class XI and XII (both boys and girls) will get a revised assistance of Rs 5,000 per annum. The aid for degree, postgraduate and diploma engineering students will be Rs 7,000 per annum, while the assistance for engineering, medical, MBA, architecture, pharmacy, hotel management students has been increased to Rs 40,000 per annum.