Dear All, Given below is a clipping of a news article from PTI dated Nov 5, 2017, for your information.
Misuse of Funds for Construction Workers' Welfare
NEW DELHI: Laptops and washing machines were bought out of a whopping Rs 29,000 crore fund meant for the welfare of construction workers, and less than ten percent was spent on the actual purpose. Terming this as a "shocking" and "extremely distressing" state of affairs, the Supreme Court has said the funds, collected by the government through a cess under the construction workers law, were being "frittered away" and diverted, instead of being spent on the welfare of the beneficiaries.
While making these observations, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta have directed the Union Labour Secretary to appear before it on November 10 "to understand how the act was being implemented and why it was being misused, if not abused." The "astonishing" details were given in an affidavit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the funds meant for construction workers' welfare were spent to buy laptops and washing machines for them, shocking the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court's Directive and Observations
The apex court had earlier asked the CAG to file a report on how crores of rupees meant for the welfare of construction workers were being spent. It was hearing a PIL filed by the NGO, National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, which has alleged that the statutory cess levied on real estate firms for the welfare of construction workers was not being utilized properly as there was no mechanism to identify the beneficiaries for extending the benefits.
CAG's Findings and Court's Concerns
Asserting that there should be no further exploitation of construction workers by the states or welfare boards, the top court observed that the CAG has revealed a "shocking state of affairs" with regard to the utilization of the cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. "For example: we have been shown expenditure having been incurred for the payment of entry tax/value-added tax; expenditure incurred for the purchase of washing machines for construction workers; expenditure incurred for the purchase of laptops for construction workers, etc. This is really astonishing," the bench noted in its order. "It is quite obvious from the above that the amounts are just being frittered away, if not defalcated by the concerned welfare boards," it said. "Apart from the above, we find that huge amounts have been spent towards administrative expenses while the statute permits only five percent expenditure towards administrative expenses," it said.
The top court observed that the law was "being misused" as the beneficiaries, who were construction workers, were not given the benefits they are entitled to, and the money collected was being diverted to the labor welfare boards or the state governments for other purposes.
From India, Mumbai
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2584Misuse of Funds for Construction Workers' Welfare
NEW DELHI: Laptops and washing machines were bought out of a whopping Rs 29,000 crore fund meant for the welfare of construction workers, and less than ten percent was spent on the actual purpose. Terming this as a "shocking" and "extremely distressing" state of affairs, the Supreme Court has said the funds, collected by the government through a cess under the construction workers law, were being "frittered away" and diverted, instead of being spent on the welfare of the beneficiaries.
While making these observations, a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta have directed the Union Labour Secretary to appear before it on November 10 "to understand how the act was being implemented and why it was being misused, if not abused." The "astonishing" details were given in an affidavit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that the funds meant for construction workers' welfare were spent to buy laptops and washing machines for them, shocking the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court's Directive and Observations
The apex court had earlier asked the CAG to file a report on how crores of rupees meant for the welfare of construction workers were being spent. It was hearing a PIL filed by the NGO, National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, which has alleged that the statutory cess levied on real estate firms for the welfare of construction workers was not being utilized properly as there was no mechanism to identify the beneficiaries for extending the benefits.
CAG's Findings and Court's Concerns
Asserting that there should be no further exploitation of construction workers by the states or welfare boards, the top court observed that the CAG has revealed a "shocking state of affairs" with regard to the utilization of the cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. "For example: we have been shown expenditure having been incurred for the payment of entry tax/value-added tax; expenditure incurred for the purchase of washing machines for construction workers; expenditure incurred for the purchase of laptops for construction workers, etc. This is really astonishing," the bench noted in its order. "It is quite obvious from the above that the amounts are just being frittered away, if not defalcated by the concerned welfare boards," it said. "Apart from the above, we find that huge amounts have been spent towards administrative expenses while the statute permits only five percent expenditure towards administrative expenses," it said.
The top court observed that the law was "being misused" as the beneficiaries, who were construction workers, were not given the benefits they are entitled to, and the money collected was being diverted to the labor welfare boards or the state governments for other purposes.
From India, Mumbai
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Horrible situation... It's a good learning. We are enforcing contractors to pay the cess and provide us the statutory receipt while submitting the invoices so that compliance should not be in question. Also, we need to monitor how this fund is being utilized judiciously.
From India, Mumbai
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From India, Mumbai
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TN Labour Welfare Fund 2018.pdf
Statewise Labour Welfare Fund.xls