The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has set up a five-member sub-committee on construction workers under the tripartite Central Board of Trustees to suggest a mechanism for increasing the social security coverage for workers in the sector.

The sub-committee will be chaired by the Central Provident Commissioner, said an EPFO circular dated October 15, and will include one Government representative to be nominated by the Labour Secretary and a additional Central PF commissioner.

The employers will be represented by S S Patil and Ravi Wig, while employees will be represented by Ramen Pandey of Congress-led INTUC and M J Rao of the BJP-led Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh.

The tenure of the sub-committee shall be “at the pleasure of the Chairman'', according to the circular.

In India, close to one crore workers, mostly migrants, are involved in the building & construction sector, with women forming a large chunk of the workforce. The construction sector is the second largest employer in India after the agriculture sector with hardly any social security cover.

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