March 20,2018:
SC Bench questioned that,“What is being done with the remaining about ₹28,000 crore? Why is it that construction workers across the country are being denied the benefit of this enormous amount?”, and further added that the “answers blow in the wind”.
On Monday, Supreme Court expounded that,"For millions of construction workers, mostly women and children, there is no social or economic justice to be given.
Apex Court further found that ₹28,000 crore meant for the welfare of construction workers lie stagnant in State coffers.
SC in its 57 page judgment stated that it was mainly because successive governments have failed to make use of this money for the health, safety or service conditions of unnamed and unsung construction workers, whom, the Supreme Court stated that, play a great role in “nation-building”.
Apex Court Bench comprising of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta rues that they can give the lot of construction workers only “symbolic justice” and nothing real or tangible.
Judgment was authored by Justice Lokur, in which he expounded that there was total lack of concern and apathy on the part of the powers that be in doing anything substantial for the benefit of construction workers puts a Shakespearean tragedy to shame.
Bench stated that State Governments have been collecting welfare funds for construction workers since the Parliament passed the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act and the Building and Other Construction Workers‘ Welfare Cess Act, both in 1996.
A total of ₹37,400 crore was collected for the benefit of construction workers over 22 years. Only ₹9,500 crore was utilised for their benefit.
Records that the government estimate shows there are over 4.5 crore building and construction workers in the country. As of now, 2.8 crore have been registered under the 1996 laws for welfare. But there is no source for these statistics. The court dismisses these figures as mere “guesstimates”.
It points out that even if Government wants to do good now by distributing the funds, it cannot as “some of these construction workers from the 1990s, and even later, may perhaps have unfortunately passed away or might be untraceable or old enough to deserve a pension”.
Court pointed out that,“What makes the situation even worse is that many of the construction workers are believed to be women and at least some of them have small children to look after,” the court pointed out.
The purpose of the laws of 1996 was to stop the exploitation of construction and ensure that their children do not suffer in terms of education, healthy living and dignity.
Hoping that “someone, somewhere at some point” may under the gravity of the situation, the Supreme Court issued a slew of guidelines for the government, including identity cards of workers and providing them maternity benefits, minimum wages and even bring them under the MNREGA.
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com:
SC Judgment on Condition of Construction Workers (Downloadable PDF)
SC Judgment on Condition of Construction Workers by Latest Laws Team on Scribd
