As a pilot project, it will set up Urban Resources Centre (URC) at Katargam, Limbayat and Rander, which will later be extended to other zones depending on the public response. With this, the skilled workers will no longer have to venture out to the market in search of work.

The workers will have to take forms from these offices and submit them back after providing details like name, address, profession and contact number among others. The data collected will be stored in computers.

Any person, who requires the services of these workers, will have to contact the URC, which will provide them with the phone number of the worker to attend to the complaint. Each worker will be provided with a special identity card for which a negligible amount will be collected from them.

Saath is already running this project in Ahmedabad. This project will run under the state government’s Gujarat Urban Development Mission.

Saath project co-ordinator Neeraj Jani said: “The URC will act as a link between the service providers and service users. We will conduct road shows and counselling sessions for the workers to make the people more aware about the working styles of the URC.”

Jani added: “Our staff will maintain records of the workers and we will upgrade their knowledge so that they can provide better facilities to their customers. We have planned to give more services in URC, but it will come gradually.”

Neeraj said the government will bear expenses up to 100 percent to a limit of Rs 4 lakh per annum for three years and later, 50 percent for the next three years, followed by 25 percent for another three years.

Assistant Commissioner C Y Bhatt said: “The purpose of starting such centres is to build a bridge between customers and workers. We are working on a pilot project and later, depending on the response, we will extend it to other wards.”

The NGO will appoint four persons to act as cental coordinator, data operating manager and two volunteers.