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Nearly half the Rs 87,478 crore collected so far as the building and other construction (BOC) workers welfare cess by states and Union Territories remain unutilised, even as such labourers complain of woeful working conditions and denial of welfare measures, such as health, pension, insurance, and accident cover.
Until November last year, only Rs 49,269 crore (56 per cent) was spent on workers’ welfare, while Rs 38,209 crore (44 per cent) remained unutilised, Rameshwar Teli, minister of state, labour and employment, told Parliament last month.
He also informed Parliament that around 50.6 million BOC workers were registered with the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board (BOCWWB) across the country.
Among the 22 major states and Union Territories, Assam (18.7 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (22.3 per cent), Gujarat (27.1 per cent), Delhi (28.2 per cent), West Bengal (35.7 per cent), Tamil Nadu (38.1 per cent), Maharashtra (41.1 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (41.3 per cent) and Haryana (44.4 per cent) have spent less than half of the amount collected.
Debanjan Chakraborty, vice-president, Construction Workers’ Federation of India (CWFI), said workers engaged in construction workers across the country are denied basic amenities as the boards constituted for their welfare seldom take any initiative to enrol and register workers, which results in lower disbursement of funds. Often funds are diverted to other schemes and projects, Chakraborty said.
“Earlier, a construction worker had to present a certificate by a member of parliament (MP) or by the contractor, which resulted in millions of workers not being able to register themselves. Also, the earlier rules did not allow brick kiln workers or stone quarrying workers, as they came under the ambit of the Factories Act, 1948, to be enrolled with the welfare boards, leaving a large number of them uncovered,” Chakraborty added.
They are now allowed self-enrolment, provided that they have engaged in construction work for 90 days in 12 months. A registered contractor can also enrol workers, subject to verification.
A labour economist said the uptick in the disbursement and enrolment has only been in recent years, especially after the Covid pandemic as states were issued guidelines to frame a scheme under Section 22 of the [Building & Other Construction Workers] Act for transfer of adequate funds in the bank accounts of construction workers.
Among better performers, Kerala has spent more on construction workers’ welfare than the amount it collected (160.5 per cent), followed by Odisha (84.7 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (78.3 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (76.5 per cent), and Chhattisgarh (75.2 per cent).
“Before the pandemic, states merely disbursed 15-20 per cent of the amount collected since inception. For example, Karnataka spent merely 11 per cent of the amount before the pandemic, but now it has spent more than half. Similarly, Uttar Pradesh started enrolling MGNREGA workers under the scheme. Last year, even the prime minister asked states to fast-track the fund utilisation during the labour ministers’ conference,” the labour economist said.
The states are mandated to have a BOCWWB under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, and register every adult construction worker until 60 years of age (engaged in construction work for not less than 90 days in preceding 12 months) as a beneficiary. Every construction work within a state with a total cost of more than Rs 10 lakh, excluding the cost of land, is levied a cess of 1 per cent, to be used for the welfare of workers.
