Dattatreya criticises state govt for not utilising fund collected as cess for construction workers
20 September, Bhubaneswar
Union Labour and Employment Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today came down heavily on the state governments for not utilising the funds collected as cess for the construction workers welfare fund and also diverting the money for some other purposes in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines.
Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day national conference on labour here, Dattatreya said a sum of Rs 27,886 crore was collected by various states in the country for the construction workers’ welfare fund while only Rs 5,800 crore had been utilised by the states so far and the rest around Rs 22,000 crore was lying in treasuries of various states, he regretted.
He also alleged that though the money was collected for the development of construction workers, many states were diverting the funds for some other purposes.
Without naming any state, the Union Minister said some states were utilising the money for distribution of bi-cycles violating the Supreme Court guidelines.
Odisha, Dattatreya said, has collected Rs 940 crore as cess from various companies for the Building and Construction workers Welfare fund but managed to spend only Rs 120 crore for their development.
Emphasising that the hard earned money belonged to the construction workers, the Union Minister said the money should be spent for the development of construction workers only.
The Union Minister requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to ensure that the money collected is spent for the development of construction workers only and not for other purpose as they were living in vulnerable condition, socially backward, uneducated and have less bargaining power.
The Supreme Court, he said, in its direction has clearly stated that the government should focus on education, health, social security, skill development and insurance of the construction workers and utilize the money for the purpose.
The Union government has now embarked upon reforming the labour laws and wanted to reduce 44 existing labour laws into four labour codes as a major reform initiative as these laws enacted in 1920s and 1935 have now became redundant.The four codescode on social security, code on wages, code on safety of working condition and health and code on Labour and Industrial Relations–would be enacted after they were passed by Parliament in the coming session for the benefit of construction workers.
He said the Union government has given top priority to social security and planned to cover all construction workers in phases soon. As many as 5 crore construction workers would be covered under EPF and ESI and later others like rickshaw pullers, ASHA workers would also be brought under the social security fold.
Replying to a question after the meeting, the Union Minister ruled out setting up of any medical college by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the state but said a hospital would be set up.
He hinted that the Union government would soon announce a package for the Odisha government but did not divulge about the package.