CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu labour department on Friday kick-started an exclusive vaccination campaign for construction workers.
Chief minister M K Stalin inaugurated the first phase of the campaign on Government Arts College premises at Nandanam in Chennai.
Ministers Ma Subramanian (Medicine) and C V Ganesan (Labour) and senior officials of the department were present on the occasion.
This was the first time in the country that a welfare board is funding a vaccination campaign.
Tamil Nadu Construction Labourers Welfare Board would utilise the fund that was generated by collecting 1% of labour cess from the total cost of each and every construction project.
The welfare board has around Rs 3,000 crore.
A total of two lakh registered members of the welfare board would be covered in the first phase of the campaign.
It was aimed at inoculating all the construction workers, including guest workers, in the state in a phased manner.
According to officials, a total of 13, 41,494 were registered with the welfare board, while an equal number of labourers remained unregistered to date.
Senior officials in the department said that they would conduct special camps at worksites and vaccinate both construction workers, including unregistered and guest workers.
During lockdown in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic, the government distributed Covid relief kits to 1, 29, 444 guest workers.
The government spent Rs 6.66 crore to disburse the relief kits compromising 15 kg rice, one kg of dal and one kg cooking oil to them, according to a government statement.