In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that the labour department of Delhi government has not utilised welfare funds it collected over the years.
The department has collected Rs 1,436 crore for welfare of organised labour since its inception in 2002. Shockingly, till date it has dispersed only Rs 40 Crore. Sources in the department have blamed it on stringent norms and demand for irrelevant documentation for sanctioning any project. ‘The Delhi government have failed to implement schemes and plans laid out by the central governments for improving lives of these underprivileged sections because of red tapism’, the source added. During Commonwealth Games alone, the department collected Rs 900 crore for the workers, but spent nothing on them, informed a senior officer of the department requesting anonymity.
The Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act was passed in 1996, mandating all states to form a welfare board and collect 1 per cent of the construction cost from employers, and use it for the welfare of labourers. In 2002, the Delhi Assembly also passed the Act, and started collecting welfare cess. The officials have stated that there are around 12 lakh construction workers in Delhi but only 2.5 lakh are registered.
According to the officials, the biggest roadblock in the utilisation of the welfare fund is that there is almost zero awareness about the Act among construction workers.
As per the Act, the welfare board must meet once every two months while they only meet twice or thrice in a year. Another officer said there is acute shortage of staff in the labour
department.