‘Rs 47,000 cr for construction workers lying unspent’

The construction industry is an important driver of the economy. Workers at sites, however, don’t seem to have a share in the prosperity they help generate. Arriving as migrants from rural areas, they cling on to employment in dismal conditions. For want of safety measures, accidents happen all the time. Entire families stick it out in unsanitary conditions. Children don’t get a chance to go to school.

A measure of the neglect shown to construction workers is the poor utilization of a fund created precisely for their welfare. Over 25 years, more than Rs 78,000 crore has been collected nationally by way of a one percent cess on big projects, but more than Rs 47,000 crore of it has not been spent.

The cess is supposed to be collected and spent by states under a national law. There are not only lapses in collection, but even the money that comes in is either not spent on the welfare measures envisaged under the law or, worse, diverted to other purposes.

Mizoram and Kerala are two states that have used their entire collection and, in fact, spent more. For the other states the record is pretty dismal. Maharashtra collected the most cess at Rs 11,108.87 crore, but 72 percent of it or Rs 8,612.33 crore remains unspent. Uttar Pradesh has collected Rs 7,144.50 crore but spent only Rs 2,873.69 crore. Delhi has collected Rs 2,750.5 crore, but has  not spent 82 percent of it or Rs 2,281.22 crore.

Haryana has seen a lot of construction, particularly in Gurugram. The state has collected Rs 3,337.23 crore, but spent only Rs 1,395.61 crore. Gujarat has collected Rs 2,013.84 crore but spent Rs 545.29 crore. West Bengal didn’t spend 65 percent of the Rs 3,648.69 crore that it collected.

To find out more, Aiema Tauheed of Civil Society spoke to Debanjan Chakrabarti, vice-president of the Construction Workers Federation of India. Chakrabarti belongs to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU),  an arm of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).  He is a member of the welfare board in West Bengal.

 

Q: For how many years has the cess under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act been collected?

The Building and Other Construction Workers Act was passed in 1996. The Central rules for implementing the Act were framed by the Union government in 1998. It was then up to the states to frame their own rules. Different states began collecting the cess at different times. Some states began in 2000, while others started 10 years later. That’s because, without framing the State Rules, they could not deduct the cess.

There was no strict instruction from the Union government that this Act and its rules had to be implemented in every state from a specific date. That is why different states began on different dates. West Bengal, I think, started in 2004.

The cess is collected from the construction project. One percent of the project cost has to be remitted as cess to the Construction Workers’ Welfare Board in a state.

According to the Act, those engaged in construction — workers, agencies, and companies — should be enrolled with the Construction Workers’ Welfare Board. The construction companies are required to register under the Act.

For instance, if a construction company is executing a housing project, a bridge, an aqueduct, a dam, or an electricity installation, whether thermal, hydroelectric, or any other, then one percent of the total project cost has to be remitted to the Board.

Implementation of the Act is a problem. But when a strong union raises these issues in the state advisory board meeting, the Act is implemented.

 

Q: How much of this fund is lying unutilized?

A month ago, an RTI query to the Union Labour Ministry revealed, I think, that Rs 47,000 crore has not been utilized across India. Over the past 15 to 20 years since the cess began to be collected, not more than Rs 30,000 crore has been spent. As we have seen, collecting the cess is itself an issue.

 

Q: How are the states spending this fund?

In some states, during election time, this fund is being utilized by the chief minister to provide benefits to unorganized sector workers. However, this fund is specifically meant for construction workers.

The construction workers’ welfare cess cannot be utilized for other unorganized sector workers. But when there is Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000 or Rs 4,000 crore lying in the fund, they spend Rs 500 crore or Rs 200 crore just before the election for funding other unorganized sector workers. It is a gimmick, a stunt, before the election.

In West Bengal, as a member of the board, I have always said that fund money cannot be spent in other areas. However, the West Bengal government has taken Rs 1,200 crore from this fund for the government exchequer. Under the Act, this cannot be done.

The West Bengal government has spent Rs 600 crore of this fund in tea garden areas, saying the sons and daughters of tea garden workers can’t find employment on the tea plantations and have now become construction workers. The government has enrolled them with the Construction Workers’ Welfare Board.

We have protested because, according to the Tea Garden Plantation Workers Act, it is the duty of the plantation owners to incur the expenditure for the benefit of tea garden workers, including crèches, health centres, and other provisions.

In almost every state, this fund is being misused. In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, the state has given Rs 3 lakh for house construction to workers enrolled with the board.

Some states have provided Rs 6 lakh as accident compensation, while others have given Rs 2 lakh or Rs 4 lakh. In Kerala, Rs 1,600 is given as pension by the government to construction workers which is draining the fund.

The cess is supposed to provide maternity benefits, children’s education allowance, funeral benefits, bicycles for construction workers to travel from their homes to work, accident benefits, medical treatment, and even tools and spectacles for workers. It is all there in the Act.

The rules specify these provisions. The Act contains nearly 200 sections dedicated to the safety of construction workers.

Some construction companies, like Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Construction, make an effort to maintain safety standards at work sites, but others are unconcerned.

I recently received a phone call from Telangana about a high-rise building which collapsed. Several hundred workers from West Bengal working onsite were injured.

A PhD student from Hyderabad University, along with our union leader, visited the site and reported that no proper lodging for construction workers, no drinking water facilities, no basic amenities had been provided. Regulations specify that separate toilets and accommodation should be provided for women workers. Yet, these provisions were completely ignored.

Construction workers are being treated just like bonded labour. Workers are recruited from villages and remote areas, especially from West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, and Odisha. These are low-income regions from where workers migrate to Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, since  daily wages are higher there and they can receive some additional benefits.

In Kerala, for example, there is a specific law, the Migrant Workers Welfare Act, that provides protection to these workers.

We have now set up a Migrant Workers Union in some states. Whenever an accident occurs, resulting in a worker’s injury or death, we coordinate efforts for hospitalization or transportation of the body back to the home state. We contact our state and district committee leaders, who then engage with the concerned construction companies to secure compensation and arrange transportation of the body.

 

Q: What role do the worker welfare boards play?

For the past three years, there has been no Central Construction Labour Advisory Board meeting. I am a member of that board from the CITU.

I have asked about the cess deposited by the Union government’s departments. Only the railways ministry has clarified that wherever railway construction work is going on, they pay the cess to the respective state workers welfare board. However, this is not the case with the CPWD, the irrigation or electricity departments, or other ministries.

The state government can ask a Union government ministry implementing a construction project to pay the one percent cess. However, not all state governments take this up. In West Bengal and Maharashtra, I have provided a list of construction companies handling projects worth between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore, but whether they are paying the cess is another matter.

In Maharashtra, there are numerous industries, bridges, and dams coming up. However, because the promoters and construction companies often belong to the ruling party, there is no pressure on them to remit the one percent cess.  I have still tried to highlight the issue. But they don’t give any response.

 

Q: How are the worker welfare boards constituted?

The welfare boards, according to the Act, fall under the labour ministry. The labour ministry is present, along with technical persons, representatives from the chambers of commerce, and central trade unions. In some places, CITU has central trade union representatives on the board.

Of the 22 states where boards exist, CITU has board members in only nine states. Why? Because the ruling party does not allow CITU representatives on the board. For example, in Tripura, when there was a Left Front government in power, the CITU representative was present. Now, under the BJP government, there is no CITU representative. Only the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) is represented.

In Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state, Pramod Pradhan, a CITU leader, was a member. During a meeting, he questioned the chief minister’s action of using the fund for other purposes. Because of this, representatives of CITU, AITUC  (All India Trade Union Congress), and others were sacked, leaving only the BMS representatives on the Madhya Pradesh welfare board.

In Karnataka, a Congress-ruled state, only the BMS union is represented in the board. The CITU has no representative.

Almost all BJP-ruled states do not allow central trade unions to be on the board. Officials outnumber the few trade unions that are represented.   

 

Q: Has the registration of construction workers picked up? What can be done to smoothen the process?

When registration was offline, it was good. Workers, along with union leaders, filled in the form, deposited the money, and registered. But now, throughout India, there is no offline registration. It is online.

Construction workers cannot fill in the forms themselves for online registration, due to their level of literacy. This is the problem.We are demanding that both registration options, online and offline, should be available to the worker, but the government does not agree.

 

Q: How are registrations done in Kerala?

Registration initially began with the Construction Workers Welfare Board in Kerala in 1989, much before the Central law was introduced. It was the first Construction Workers Welfare Board in India. Kerala currently has 22 unorganized sector workers’ welfare boards. Initially, registration was offline. Now, both online and offline options are available. However, I cannot say exactly how the offline process functions.

In Kerala, the cess fund is being drained by the giving of pension to construction workers.  There is uncertainty over whether the board can continue paying `1,600 a month as pension to construction workers.

 

Q: Women workers require facilities like an onsite creche and health services. Housing is a necessity and so is education. What measures are the states taking? Is Kerala providing such services and facilities?

In Kerala and some other states, education facilities are being provided under the Act. Education allowances are given to two children of a registered worker. The Supreme Court’s ruling is that attention must be paid to making payments for pensions, health purposes, medical treatment, education and accident benefits. Other benefits too are to be provided like cycles, tools, spectacles, funeral services and so on. This is across India for construction workers.

After this Supreme Court verdict, the Government of India issued a circular stating that these aspects must be taken care of.

But you won’t find facilities that women workers need at all big projects, whether in urban and peri-urban areas or in village areas. Children come to sites with their mothers and play there itself.

If women suffer from any illness, if a pregnant woman requires hospitalization, and childcare, and leave before and after delivery, there are no proper provisions. They are given hardly 10 days’ leave before delivery and 15 days post-delivery. Then they have to rejoin work.

 

Q: Is money being spent on improving safety standards and working conditions on construction sites?

Companies like Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Construction do spend some money on safety. In India workers are used to working without safety harnesses, helmets, welding gloves and protective spectacles. I have visited several sites all over India, this is the reality. Some money is spent. But when we ask the management about safety provisions, protective gear, etc., the response is: “Why are you asking for this? Take money, about Rs 1,000 per month.”