A construction worker registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Act is a ‘beneficiary’ of the scheme made under it and also a “consumer”, who can move consumer fora, the Supreme Court ruled last week. The judgment is significant because it will extend to all beneficiaries of statutory welfare schemes like employees’ provident fund. The case also showed how ordinary people are harassed by demanding dozens of documents, which normally they are not expected to have. In this appeal case, Joint Labour Commissioner vs Kesar Lal, the worker had obtained a Labour Beneficiary ID after paying a fee. When he sought financial assistance for his daughter’s marriage, the commissioner rejected it after nine months with a long list of defects in the application — it did not have a valid date of birth, the affidavit was not proper, the application form was incomplete in details, and the certificate of the planner was not attached. After the rejection of 327 such applications from construction workers, the matter was taken to the consumer fora. These fora accepted the claim of Kesar Lal, and the commissioner’s appeal was dismissed.
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First Published: Sun, March 22 2020. 22:05 IST
