Rs 1,000 cr welfare project for construction workers

Karnataka govt plans to set up residential schools for children of workers and also marriage halls and skill development centres for them

The Karnataka government has planned a slew of welfare programmes for construction workers to enhance their skills and impart quality education to their children. "The government plans to set up residential schools for children of workers and also marriage halls and skill development centres for them," Labour Minister Parameshwar Naik said.

The residential schools will be opened in all the eleven corporation limits across the state and government would spend Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore on the project, he said. The government would create infrastructure for such schools and vest responsibility of running them with Delhi Public School, Naik said, adding they were expected to be opened by June next year.

"There should not be any problem in meeting the deadline as there is no money problem. The Karnataka Building and Other Construction Welfare Board has Rs 800 crore in its account," he added. The labour department has already written letters to all the eleven Deputy Commissioners for land acquisition, the Minister said. It will acquire land from Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) and some departments, he said.

The board also proposed to establish a state-level academy of construction in Bangalore on the lines of National Academy of Construction in Hyderabad. The academy would be named after renowned engineer and recipient of the Bharat Ratna late Sir M Visvesvaraya, Naik said.

The board also plans to set up skill development centres for the benefit of construction workers and their children and to build marriage halls in Bangalore, Hubli, Mysore, Mangalore and Gulbarga, he said.