States utilise only 21% of Rs 28454 cr construction cess: Govt

States have been able to utilise only 21 per cent of the Rs 28,454.62 crore Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess, Parliament was informed today.
The Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996, provides for levy and collection of cess on the cost of construction incurred by employers to augment resources of the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Boards.
The responsibility of collecting cess and its utilization for welfare of construction workers lies with the respective State Governments/UT Administrations and State Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Boards, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

"Cumulative total of the amount of cess collected by the States/UTs up to September 30, 2016 at the rate of 1 per cent of the cost of construction is Rs 28,454.62 crore," he added.
Cess collected on the cost of construction incurred by employers under Cess Act, 1996, is utilised for the welfare of construction workers by State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Boards constituted by States/Union Territories under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
"The amount of cess fund utilised by the States/UTs is Rs 6,097.047 crore," the Minister said.

Centre has been issuing directions to States/UTs from time to time for proper utilisation of the cess fund, he said.
Union Government had constituted a Monitoring Committee on September 9, 2015 under Chairmanship of Labour Secretary to monitor the implementation of directions issued under Section 60 of the Act, specifically with reference to utilisation of Cess fund for Welfare Schemes, he added.
"The Committee has been holding regular meetings with the Principal Secretary/Secretary/Labour Commissioners of all the States/UTs to monitor the progress. The Committee has held four meeting so far," Dattatreya said.