Odisha hikes pension, financial aid for construction workers

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today hiked monthly old-age pension and other financial assistance offered to senior construction workers in the State.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved a proposal in this regard, which will benefit thousands of construction workers.

As per the revision, senior construction workers will now get a monthly pension of Rs 500 from the existing Rs 300. Similarly, workers above 80 years of age will receive Rs 700 instead of Rs 500 at present.

The increased pension will come into effect retrospectively from February, 2019, a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

Similarly, the State government has also increased the financial aids of construction workers for marriage and death under the Construction Workers Welfare Scheme.

Following the revision, the construction workers will get financial aids of Rs 50,000 as against Rs 25,000 earlier to marry off their daughters (maximum two daughters per worker).

Moreover, the financial assistance in case of natural death of construction workers has been hiked to Rs 2 lakh from existing Rs 1 lakh and Rs 4 lakh from Rs 2 lakh in case of accidental death.

Worth mentioning, workers above 60 years of age and registered with the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board are entitled to pension and other benefits in the State