Tamil Nadu welfare boards disbursed Rs 2,460 cr fund in last four years

CHENNAI: The 50-year-old Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare Board has disbursed financial assistance of Rs 930 crore to its registered members for the fiscal year 2024-2025, bringing the total financial assistance provided over the last four years to Rs 2,460 crore.

The state is at the forefront of creating a safety net for workers in the unorganised sector. The board has made significant progress since its establishment in 1975 by the M Karunanidhi-led DMK regime under the Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare Fund Act of 1972.

From extending financial aid for members’ children’s education to contributing in various other ways, the welfare board has played a crucial role in supporting workers engaged in 54 categories of construction work and 71 categories of manual employment, despite challenges such as red tape, among others.

This year, the Unorganised Workers Welfare Board, a collective of 20 welfare boards under the Department of Labour, extended financial aid amounting to Rs 930.82 crore to 4,79,355 members. Of these, 3.41 lakh were from the Tamil Nadu Construction Workers Welfare Board, and they received financial assistance totalling Rs 617 crore.

According to officials, the welfare board has disbursed financial assistance amounting to Rs 2,460 crore between May 2021 and the end of March this year. “More than 23.36 lakh members have received aid for various purposes in the last four years, including marriage, medical needs, education, and pensions,” said a senior official.

The Construction Welfare Board generates a corpus fund through a 1% levy on the total estimated cost of building or construction work proposed. It received Rs 994.98 crore in the last fiscal year, while it received Rs 1,020 crore corpus fund through levy for 2024-2025.

“The board has a surplus fund and has even launched an exclusive housing scheme for its members. Although there were some initial hiccups in the programme, we are ironing out the flaws to expand the project and help poor construction workers secure their own homes,” said the official, adding that recently, nine construction workers benefited from the scheme, with many more shortlisted as beneficiaries.

However, the other welfare boards lack sources to generate corpus funds. “The government has been allocating funds to 17 welfare boards, which have limited or no revenue source. The government sanctioned Rs 285 crore for these boards for the last fiscal year (2024-2025) to extend welfare schemes,” added the official.