38 booked for fraudulently availing of benefits meant for labourers

The Himachal Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board has registered an FIR against 38 persons for fraudulently trying to get benefits meant for workers.

Chairman of the board Nardev Singh Kanwar, while addressing a press conference here today, said that during field inspections by the District Labour Welfare Officer, 12 additional cases were detected where individuals had fraudulently availed of benefits on false documents. “In these cases, FIRs have been lodged at Barsar, Hamirpur, Sujanpur and Bhoranj police stations,” he added.

He said that during inspections conducted last month, 38 application forms submitted by the beneficiaries for claims were physically verified and found to be false. Of the 38 claimants, 26 had submitted fake registration forms while nine applicants had applied for benefits fraudulently. Three registered labourers had availed of benefits using forged documents, he added.

Kanwar said that the board would continue ground inspections rigorously in the coming times and strict action would be taken against anyone found guilty of misusing schemes meant for the benefit of genuine labourers. Legal proceedings, including the registration of FIRs, would be ensured against such offenders.

He said that the board had provided benefits to the tune of Rs 5.30 crore to eligible labourers under 14 different welfare schemes during 2025-26. He added that 4,73,126 labourers were at present registered with the board and e-KYC verification of 70,863 labourers had been completed through the HIM-PARIVAAR portal.

Himachal Tribune