Sonbhadra: Two modern Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Labour Facilitation Centres are being established in Sonbhadra to provide unorganised and construction-sector workers with social security, basic civic amenities and a dignified working environment.
The centres will come up at Sukrit village and Dala Bazaar under a project being implemented by the Uttar Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board under the Labour Department. The district administration has completed the land identification process, selecting 253 square metres in Sukrit and 200 square metres in Ward No. 4 of Dala Bazaar. A detailed estimate of more than ₹3 crore has been prepared for construction of the two facilities. Work is expected to begin after financial and administrative approvals.
Designed as three-storey one-stop solution centres, the facilities will include shaded waiting areas, seating, RO drinking-water plants and separate modern sanitation facilities for men and women on the ground floor.
The first floor will house a community kitchen and subsidised canteen, offering nutritious breakfast and freshly prepared meals to workers at nominal prices of ₹5 to ₹10. The facility is intended to reduce the daily food burden on low-income wage earners while supporting their health and productivity.
A Common Service Centre (CSC) and digital help desk will operate from the second floor. Workers will be assisted with online registration, renewal and issuance of labour cards through the welfare board portal, with the process designed to be free and transparent.
Registered construction workers will also be connected with schemes covering education assistance, maternity and child support, marriage assistance, merit scholarships, serious illness, disaster relief, skill development and technical upgradation. Assistance in cases of death or permanent disability, along with funeral grants, will also be facilitated through the single-window system.
The centres will coordinate with the Uttar Pradesh Skill Development Mission to organise regular training programmes. Unskilled workers engaged in traditional construction activities will receive practical training in modern machinery, safety standards and construction techniques, helping them move towards semi-skilled and skilled employment.
The institutionalised labour centres are also expected to create a regulated platform connecting workers, employers and contractors. By shifting labour engagement from crowded roadside points to designated facilities, the initiative aims to promote greater transparency and improve safety, including for women workers.
The project is also expected to contribute to better urban management by reducing informal gatherings at major intersections, easing traffic movement and improving cleanliness and public-space management.
The proposed centres at Sukrit and Dala Bazaar are intended to bring shelter, food, digital assistance, social security and skill development services under one roof while providing workers with a more organised and dignified platform for employment.
