The High Court of Delhi has said “it is the need of the hour” to complete the registration of construction workers, “on war footing”, so that they can be provided relief, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Court also directed the Govt. of Delhi to ensure that sufficient number of desks or windows are provided, where workers could go & get their forms for registration or renewal of registration filled up & uploaded.

A bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi & Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar expressed displeasure with the Govt of Delhi’s Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare (BOCWW) Board over the “cumbersome” registration form, lack of assistance from the authority in filling up application forms & no specific timeline for processing the same.

It also declined the Board’s contention that it does not have the money or other means needed to provide assistance to fill up & upload the applications, saying it was “their job to facilitate the same, particularly when they have devised such a cumbersome form which is not even bilingual”.

“We, therefore, direct that the Board should ensure that sufficient number of desks or windows are provided, where workers could go & get their forms for registration or renewal of registration filled up & uploaded,” the bench said. It also said that help can be taken from the Delhi State Legal Services Authority’s (DSLSA) for the purpose.

The directions were issued in a plea by social activist Sunil Kumar Aledia seeking registration of all construction workers in Delhi under the BOCWW Act so that they can be eligible for the monthly ₹5,000 relief the  Govt has been giving to labourers under the ambit of the scheme.

Aledia in his plea, filed through advocate Shiven Varma, has contended that only a small section out of the over 10 lakh workers in the city are registered under the laws regulating their welfare & service conditions & thus, a huge chunk of the labourers are not getting benefits actually meant for them.

The bench also termed as “completely unacceptable” the Board’s stand that it can't say with certainty the application forms would be examined.

“If this state of affairs is allowed to prevail, the construction workers who are genuinely entitled to register or renew their registration would have to wait endlessly.

“..whereas need of the hour is to complete the process at the earliest on a war footing so that succour could be provided to the construction workers in the wake of the pandemic,” the bench said in its order of Tuesday which was made available on Wednesday.

The Court said the Board should ensure it does not unduly delay the entire exercise of registration or renewal of registration, considering the “grave urgency” at present to register & renew the registrations.

It said the renewal process should be simplified. It asked the Board to file an affidavit highlighting the steps taken in compliance with the Court’s directions. The matter will now be heard on July 22.

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