Report on Beed bogus workers scam in 15 days: Fundkar | Pune News

Pune: A detailed report on the alleged fraud in registrations with the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) welfare board in Beed will be ready within a fortnight, state labour minister Akash Fundkar said on Monday.The alleged fraud involves embezzlement of crores of rupees between March 2020 and Feb 2026, where hundreds of deceased persons were enrolled as construction workers under the board, leading to disbursal of wages. They were then allegedly declared as dead again to claim further compensation.“Of around 100 cases examined so far, 50 have not been found fraudulent. The remaining are being scrutinised. A statewide check of all registrations will also be carried out,” Fundkar told TOI. Nearly 32 lakh workers are registered under the BOCW welfare board in the state.He said an independent officer will probe the cases, while vigilance teams have registered cases at 46 locations across the state. “We appeal to citizens to submit evidence. There will be 100% action against the culprits,” he said.Fundkar had said in the legislative assembly last week that strict action would follow a comprehensive probe into the irregularities after the matter was raised by MLAs Suresh Dhas and Namita Mundada.They had said that in over 100 cases, individuals who had died years ago were shown as active workers, paid wages and issued fresh death certificates. Some were falsely recorded as having worked abroad. In several instances, agents allegedly extorted up to Rs 5 lakh from legal heirs by claiming the workers died on duty to claim compensation.Officials said registration under the BOCW welfare board is meant for workers aged 18 to 60 engaged in construction activity, who must provide identity proof, proof of employment (typically 90 days of work in a year), and pay a nominal registration fee.Once enrolled, workers become eligible for a range of welfare benefits, including accident compensation, death benefits, pensions, education assistance for children, maternity benefits, and financial aid for housing and medical needs.Fundkar admitted that the earlier offline registration process enabled such fraud. He said the system has now been made fully online with biometric verification to prevent recurrence, and warned that officials, agents or institutions involved in preparing fake documents, signatures and stamps will face stringent action.Officials from the labour department told TOI that checks will be carried out for all districts. “Even as the report will be out, we are carrying out checks for other districts as well,” he said.