Note to state: Spend that Rs 5,000 you have forgotten about

Government has a scheme for construction workers' benefits but done nothing to promote it to beneficiaries

When you hear that a government welfare scheme is stuck, it's usually for lack of funds. Now, you can add government apathy to the list of reasons - a welfare fund for construction workers that is flush with funds has, till now, only spent Rs 250 crore to actually help the beneficiaries.

Over the last six years, between 2010 and March 2017, the state collected Rs 5,000 crore in a welfare fund for construction labourers - not as a budgetary allocation, but set aside a mandatory 1 per cent of construction project cost as labour cess. It applies to all projects having more than 10 labourers on their roster, and any violation invites penal action.

This year, it will add another Rs 1,000 crore to this fund, which the labour department collects through local self-governments that approve new building plans. For government contractors, the cess is deducted from their payment and the money is deposited in a special bank account.

Why is it lying unused?
A senior officer in the labour department said the government hasn't made any serious effort to develop a mechanism for dispensing benefits by utilising the money. "We don't have sufficient data on labourers because the system is not computerised. There are schemes in place, but there are very few beneficiaries because people don't know about it," said the officer.

According to another officer on the field, not only the developers, even the labourers it is meant for, skip registration. "Builders do not register because they don't want to pay cess. But who really loses in this is the worker," said the officer.

Lack of initiative
As of now, only 3.5 lakh have registered in the last seven years, but most of them haven't ended up renewing their memberships.

The labour department is struggling to create awareness among workers. The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, responsible for implementing schemes, said it does not have adequate staff, infrastructure to scale up registration of workers.

Despite attempts, labour minister Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar remained unavailable for comment.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!