The Supreme Court today set the deadline of September 30 for the Centre to finalise a welfare scheme for building and construction workers across the country.
A bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta made it clear to the government that "no further time" would be granted to it for finalising the welfare scheme.
The counsel appearing for the Centre referred to an affidavit filed by the government which has said that a draft scheme has been uploaded on the website of the labour ministry and suggestions have been invited from the states till August 10.
The Centre told the apex court that others could also give their suggestion on the draft scheme till August 30 and the scheme would be finalised by September 30.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench that the draft scheme was "as bad as" the earlier draft which was framed by the Centre.
"This draft scheme is so bad," he said, adding, "All suggestions given by the NALSA (National Legal Services Authority) and us are not there."
When the lawyer said it would be finalised by September 30, the bench asked, "Why you want so much of time?"
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