Construction workers yet to avail social welfare benefits

Times of India: Margoa: Sunday, September 29, 2013.

The tragic death of a migrant construction workers' toddler at a construction site in Margao last month brought to the fore the inadequacy of the welfare measures mandated by statute in so far as migrant workers are concerned.

Official sources said that around 20 crore collected as cess by the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board lies parked in bank deposits.

In what further points to the virtual exclusion of the migrant workers from the welfare schemes designed for them, not a single penny from the fund collected has been spent on the workers' welfare.

The Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board was constituted in July 2008 under the chairmanship of the labour minister, as mandated under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act, 1996. There are 15 members on the board - five each representing three stakeholders - labour, employers and the government. The rules were framed and notified in April, 2010.

But since then, the board has met only twice - the first meeting took place on March 25, 2011, which was chaired by the then labour minister Joaquim Alemao; the second meeting was on September, 20, 2013 - the first since the Manohar Parrikar-led government came to power.

The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act 1996 was enacted with the objective of providing safety, health and welfare measure for construction workers.

Information obtained under the RTI Act by RTI activist Savio Correia from the labour commissioner's office revealed that the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board collected 12.31 crore as cess till last financial year "but has largely failed to spend a single rupee on construction workers welfare as on March 31, 2013". The board is empowered to collect cess at the rate of 1% of construction cost of every project. While cess collection saw an exponential increase from 57 lakh in 2010, 2.61 crore in 2011, 8.21 crore in 2012, not a penny was spent on the purpose it was meant for.

Labour commissioner Fatima Rodrigues, who is the secretary, at the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, said that as per the latest figure, the amount collected by way of cess invested in financial institutions now stands at 20 crore.

Moreover, while only 57 workers were registered with the board until December 2011, 49 more were added since then taking the total number of beneficiaries in Goa under the Act to just 106.

The floating population among the migrant labour class seems to be the main reason why the number of beneficiaries is very poor. "The board wants maximum number of labourers to avail of the benefits provided under the act. But , there are many issues hindering effective implementation of the act," the labour commissioner said.

Explaining the criteria, she said that it's not been easy to get labourers to register under the act. Under Rule 28(1) of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, every construction worker above the age of 18 years and under 60 years who is "engaged in any building or other construction work for not less 90 days during the preceding 12 months is eligible for registration as a beneficiary and to the benefits provided by the board."

The major difficulties faced towards the implementation of the act is two clauses for registration - that the worker must have a pay slip or appointment letter and secondly, has to have a minimum of 90 days in service in Goa.

Rodrigues told STOI said the board, at the last meeting held nine days ago, also felt that efforts should be made to popularize the schemes and to get more workers registered under the act. Publicity material is being prepared to create awareness, she added.

Sources said that the board is considering to use the smart card or even health cards or ESI cards to facilitate their registration. Board members were also of the view that compensation cases should also be considered for benefit under the act.

In the initial period of implementation of the act, the authorities started with two schemes for the beneficiaries - maternity benefits for women workers, funeral assistance. Later, all other benefits provided in the act were extended to them. Some of these include financial assistance for the beneficiaries' children, house building allowance, loans for purchase of tools, loans for children's education, financial assistance towards medical expenses, family pension, etc.