DNA: New Delhi: Monday, August 18, 2014.
State govts
collect money for their welfare from builders, but spend peanuts.
Three-year
old Manish and his two elder sisters are seemingly happy in the company of
their father Mithlesh, a construction labourer, as he plays with them outside
their shanty in Noida sector 82. The kids don't know that he is with them
because he has lost his job.
"When I
was employed I would earn about 300 rupees every day. For some reason the work
has stopped and I have to look for work elsewhere," says Mithlesh, as he
waves away the flies from the face of the toddler.
His wife
continues with her work at the site which helps them pay for their meagre
meals. "Tomatoes are Rs 80 a kg and this is the case with nearly all
items. Prices are hurting us. Besides, we won't be able to leave the colony
till we pay the kirana shop from where we pick up our groceries on
credit," he says.
Mithlesh, who
is from Katihar in Bihar, is among the lakhs of migrant labourers in Noida, a
huge force that is steering real estate growth in the region for the past two
decades. According to the Noida Development Authority, these labourers numbered
three lakh in 2010.
With the
welfare and protection of the interests of these labourers in mind, the
government had framed the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess
Rules, 1998.
Under the
central government rules builders are required to deposit a percentage of their
project cost with the state government, which must use the funds for the
workers. However, a dna investigation reveals that while the government is
collecting the funds from the builders, the money has seldom been utilized for
the welfare of labourers.
An RTI reply
stated that of Rs 1,283 crore collected in Noida, Delhi and Haryana, between
2010 and 2012, only Rs19.71 crore has been spent for labour welfare in these states.
A senior BJP
source told dna the central government has been apprised of the matter and it
will take this up with the state governments. An email from dna on this matter
to Anita Agnihotri, secretary, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation,
was not answered.
Interestingly,
Uttar Pradesh spent just Rs 75,000 of a total Rs 107 crore collected in
2010-11. Haryana and Delhi are not far behind in the non-deployment of these
funds. Of the Rs 269 crore and Rs 196 crore in 2010-11 and 2011-12
respectively, the Delhi government utilized only Rs 4.5 crore and Rs 2.5 crore
in the two years.
With minimal
civic amenities at workers' colonies, the hope for social security simply
recedes for these labourers.
The labourers
say that the developers care for their children. "My children go to a
makeshift school at the project site itself," says Bablu, a 20-year-old
labourer. "The teacher had come to the colony and gave us a earful as
children are not attending regularly."
Asked why
children did not attend the classes, Poonam, a housewife, retorts, "The
children often fall ill and there is no medical facility here. We cannot afford
to take our kids to private clinics."
The wages are
also a concern. "In this area, we get a daily wage of Rs 170. This is very
low compared to what some others get in areas along the expressway," says
Ranjeet.
In October
2011, the Guardian newspaper highlighted the plight of the labourers who were
hired for the construction of the Formula One race track by the Jaypee Group.
It mentioned that the payment to labourers had been erratic.
HOME TRUTH;
Under the
Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Rules, 1998, state govts
are required to collect a percentage of the project cost from builders towards
welfare of construction labourers In 2010-11, Delhi collected Rs 269 cr, but
utilized just Rs 4.5 crore
Uttar Pradesh
was even worse. The state collected Rs 107 crore and spent just Rs 75,000
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