Patna: Labour resources department additional chief secretary K Senthil Kumar said here on Friday that the state govt has paid Rs12.22 crore as welfare grants against accidents to the next kin of 614 migrant workers from the state in the last two financial years, till now.Talking to reporters here on Friday, Kumar said that Rs8.67 crore was paid against accidents to the next kin of 446 migrant workers in the 2025-26 financial year, and the amount is Rs3.35 crore for the 168 workers in the current financial year, till now.He added that the amount payable against the death of migrant workers in accident has been increased from Rs2 lakh to Rs4 lakh per person, while the govt has also been paying the cost incurred on bringing the migrant workers back to their homes after death, be it from abroad or from any place outside Bihar in the country.Kumar said the govt has already launched the Bihar migrant worker app to prepare the data base on the migrant workers engaged within the country outside Bihar, or abroad. “Till June 10, more than 6.84 lakh migrant workers have been registered through this app,” he added.He said that a welfare board has been constituted for implementing 16 schemes for the welfare of the construction workers and their families. As many as 42.31 lakh construction workers are registered with the welfare board concerned.Kumar said that as many as 1,054 child labourers were freed in the 2025-26 financial year, and the number of the freed child labourers in the current 2926-27 financial year so far is 126. “The government has also released thefund for their relief and rehabilitation,” Kumar said.
