An exasperated Supreme Court censured the government this week for failing to implement a law that seeks to ensure the welfare of construction workers. The court asked the government to formally state that the top court’s orders in the matter have been “thrown in the dustbin”.
Questioning the centre’s attitude, the apex court noted that it was evident that the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, cannot be implemented.
Govt. Not Serious About Implementing The Law
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta expressed their displeasure to the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Maninder Singh appearing for the government stating that it should file an affidavit that the court’s previous orders “are meaningless and they are thrown in the dustbin”.
The court further added that currently the money is being collected but is not being given to those for whom the money has been collected i.e. construction workers.
So far over Rs 37,000 crore has been collected by way of a cess under the 1996 Act.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has stated earlier in an affidavit the funds meant for construction workers’ welfare was being used for buying laptops and washing machines.
Benefits Not Reaching Construction Workers
The remarks came while a PIL was being heard that is alleging that the statutory cess currently levied on real estate firms for the welfare of construction workers was not getting utilised properly since no mechanism exists to identify suitable beneficiaries.
The ASG informed the bench that a recent meeting was held of the monitoring committee comprising of the labour secretaries of all states and union territories, but the bench commented that the “centre’s attitude” was revealed in the minutes.
The ASG also told the court that the Act would need to be implemented centrally since the states have their own views.
Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves, on behalf of petitioner NGO National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, stated that the recent meeting held to discuss the issue ended in less than two hours and nothing substantial was achieved.
The bench stated to Gonsalves that it can be inferred from the meeting and its minutes, that “the Act cannot be implemented.”
The hearing is scheduled to continue this week.
National Portal Being Created
The apex court has earlier emphasised that the civil society must be included in the efforts to implement the law, and has directed the Centre to involve NGOs who are working for the welfare of the construction workers to ensure effective implementation.
The secretary of the ministry of labour and employment had informed the court that a national website was being set up which could be used by NGOs for this purpose.
