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With the labour department cracking down on lakhs of fake labour cards, the number of scholarship applications by children of construction workers has reduced by a massive 85 per cent, officials say.
While a mammoth 11.13 lakh applications were received last year, this year’s number has fallen to merely 1.6 lakh.
Labour Minister Santosh Lad attributed three major reasons for this year’s reduction.
“Firstly, we have cracked down on lakhs of bogus cards, thus weeding out fake beneficiaries. Secondly, the applications have been Aadhar-seeded and therefore it’s taking some time for processing them. Finally, a department notification which cautions stringent action against fake beneficiaries could also have deterred them.”
Last year, the record number of applications led to a reduction in the scholarship amount. The department vehemently defended the decision, stating that lakhs of fake cards had been created during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Finally, 9.61 lakh beneficiaries got scholarships, officials say, even as trade unions approached the High Court for restoration of full scholarship amount (as paid in 2021). The court has judgment in the case.
However, the scholarship amounts for classes 1-5, 6-7 and 8 were hiked from 1,100, 1,250 and 1,350 respectively to Rs 1,800 per year to comply with central government orders.
While the unions hope the scholarship amounts will now be increased, Lad said it was difficult to take drastic decisions as they were bound by Supreme Court and Central government guidelines.
However, he added that the last date to apply (November 30) would be extended to ensure that more genuine beneficiaries apply.
A senior board official noted that unions had requested to increase the scholarships but he said the issue was still under discussion.
While agreeing that lakhs of bogus cards had led to inflated numbers, Mahantesh K, general secretary of Karnataka Building and Construction Workers Federation, pointed out that many genuine workers had also lost their membership.
“As per the law, a person should have worked as a construction worker for 90 days a year to avail of the benefits. Thus, a worker can do other work during the remaining time. However, officials have considered them non-construction workers on several occasions and denied them scholarship benefits,” he added.
However, he noted that the massively reduced numbers had discouraged many workers from applying for scholarships, as they might spend substantial amounts for the application process itself.