Chhattisgarh Labour Minister Details Department's Plans

Chhattisgarh’s Labour Minister Lakhanlal Devangan today shared detailed information on the activities, achievements, and future roadmap of the Labour Department during a press conference.

The Minister informed that over the past two years, boards under the Labour Department have registered 11.40 lakh workers, including 9.40 lakh construction workers, 1.39 lakh unorganised workers, and 98,000 organised workers.

He stated that under 71 welfare schemes operated by departmental boards, a total of 29,55,254 workers were benefited with financial assistance amounting to Rs 804.77 crore during the last two years. Of this, 28,49,167 construction workers received around Rs 653.75 crore, 91,595 unorganised workers received ₹143.77 crore, and 14,592 organised workers were provided benefits worth Rs 7.24 crore. All benefits are being transferred directly to workers’ bank accounts through a centralised DBT system.

Highlighting reforms under the Ease of Doing Business, the Minister said that factory inspections are now conducted through an automated system. In the last two years, 2,218 inspections were carried out under the Factories Act. In cases of violations, 666 prosecutions were filed in the Labour Court, and penalties exceeding ₹5 crore were recovered.

Under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, the number of insured workers increased from 4.60 lakh to 6.26 lakh in the past two years. At present, 100-bedded ESI hospitals are operational in Raipur, Korba, Raigarh, and Bhilai, while the process to start a hospital in Bilaspur is underway. Additionally, 43 ESI dispensaries are functioning across the state, with procedures in progress to open four new dispensaries.

The Minister further said that all 17 business reform recommendations of the Government of India have been implemented in the interest of workers and employers. To provide relief to small traders, the Chhattisgarh Shops and Establishments Act, 2017, along with Rules 2021, has been made applicable only to establishments employing 10 or more workers.

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He informed that a new category of employment — “Fixed-Term Employment Workers” — has been introduced, ensuring wages and benefits at par with regular employees. For women empowerment, conditional permission has been granted for women workers to work in night shifts. The validity of factory licenses has also been increased from 10 years to 15 years.

The Minister said that the Government of India has replaced 29 old labour laws with four new Labour Codes, and the process of framing corresponding state rules is underway. These reforms will ensure better protection of workers’ rights, including appointment letters, equal work opportunities for women, improved minimum wages, annual health check-ups by employers, and social security for gig and platform workers through the proposed National Social Security Board.

Outlining future plans, Shri Devangan said that a bill to extend the Shops and Establishments Act to units employing 20 or more workers has been passed again by the State Assembly and sent for the Hon’ble President’s approval.

Under ESI services, Raigarh, Kumhari, and Birgaon dispensaries will be upgraded and developed as model dispensaries. A separate health check-up scheme will be launched for registered construction workers, and a new scheme titled “Atal Career Nirman Yojana” will be introduced to provide coaching for competitive examinations to children of registered construction workers pursuing higher education.

The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Shram Ann Yojana will be expanded to all districts by establishing labour food centres. To strengthen grievance redressal and public awareness, new initiatives such as messaging services, mobile number verification, and AI-based assistance will be introduced, enabling workers to track complaint status online from their homes.

At the end of the press conference, Labour Minister Shri Lakhanlal Devangan expressed gratitude to all media representatives.

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