Bhubaneswar, Nov 12 (IANS): The government Wednesday decided to register construction workers from Odisha employed outside the state and provide them with all the benefits available to construction workers within the state.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here, said official sources.

The meeting decided to extend housing loans subject to a maximum of Rs.one lakh at an interest rate of two percent to the construction workers. The government would pay the interest on the loans, said a press release from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

Patnaik also issued directions to provide skill upgradation training to the workers with training certificates to be issued by the National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT).

So far, 4.66 lakh workers have been registered in the state till September, 2014. The government has set a target to register approximately one lakh construction workers working outside Odisha by March, 2015.

The government has allocated Rs.13.82 crore under various schemes for the construction workers, said the release.