Bombay high court seeks status report on construction worker scheme

MUMBAI: Years after the Centre enacted the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996, the state government has collected over Rs 1,189 crore from various project developers but utilized only Rs 10 lakh for the welfare of labourers, a matter that has got the high court concerned.
Troubled by such information revealed by Thane resident Vikrant Chandrahas Tawde in a PIL, the Bombay high court on Monday directed the state to file an affidavit giving a status report on the welfare scheme.The case will now be heard on July 28.
About five lakh labourers are involved in various construction activities across the city and Thane, but only 25,000 or so of them have been registered with the Labour Department so far.
Tawde gleaned the data using the right to information.
“What was more revealing was that though the act was made in 1996, the state formed the welfare committee on May 1, 2011,” Tawde said.