New Delhi, March 24: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has asked states and UTs to transfer funds to construction workers via the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from the cess fund collected by the Labour Welfare Boards. As per reports, around 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with construction welfare boards. According to an ANI tweet,  around Rs 52,000 crores is available as cess fund and about 3.5 crore construction workers are registered with these construction welfare boards.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will soon be addressing a press conference and is most likely to announce an economic package to help industrialists and small businessmen through the coronavirus lockdown. The announcement of a press conference comes in the midst of a nationwide lockdown till March 31. Nirmala Sitharaman to Address Media at 2 PM Today Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Says 'Government Readying Economic Package on Priority'.

Check ANI tweet:

The entire country is in lockdown with trains and flights being suspended. As the number of cases increased tremendously, Maharashtra imposed Section 144 across the state. Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state in the coronavirus pandemic with 101 coronavirus positive cases.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 24, 2020 02:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).