New Delhi: A report by Indian Express has found that in the absence of a seamless procedure for registration and payment, Delhi’s construction workers are being denied dues while working in an environment that has left them with no guarantees.
The report essays a particular family’s instance, where a pregnant woman with health complications lost her newborn primarily due to the fact that the child did not receive adequate care. The family had attempted to get registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, but were allegedly not given cards even after having completed all necessary formalities. The Board’s recognition would have meant healthcare and financial help, and essential maternity benefits for construction workers, says the Express report.
The situation of Delhi’s lakhs of construction workers has worsened visibly with the onset of COVID-19, with the lockdown pushing them out of the city on foot.
In late August, the Delhi high court had directed the Board to carry out verification of such labourers, for registration or its renewal, through video calls so that they do not need to expose themselves to the coronavirus and can get the benefit of the relief package of Rs 5,000 per month that was being provided to each labourer during the lockdown.
In its official page on the Delhi government’s website, the Board lists several headings under which labourers could avail themselves of small cash amounts. One of the stated objectives of the Board is listed as: “To provide maternity benefit of Rs. 1000 /- to the women employees who are beneficiary of the fund during the period of maternity.”
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The family, which comprises the young mother Babita, her husband and parents, are originally from Bihar. They, along with several other workers, made it possible for a Delhi government school to come up at Ashram intersection. The camp organised by the Board for their registration took place at the very school grounds. It was one of the 70 camps that the Board planned to conduct in its registration drive.
“They clicked our pictures, took Aadhaar cards, but our labour card was never made. We were pushed into poverty,” Mahendra Mandal, Babita’s father, told the newspaper.
Another labourer was quoted as having said that labour department officials had told the workers that because they did not hail from Delhi, their labour cards could not be made. However, The Wire did not find any clauses pertaining to place of residence or domicile on the official website of the Board.
Below are the requisites for attaining membership of the board:
(a) Under the Act a building worker who has completed 18 years of age but has not completed 60 years and has been engaged in building or any other construction work for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months and who is not a member of any other Welfare Fund established under any law for the time being in force, is eligible for registration as beneficiary by paying a registration fee of Rs.25/-.(Rs.5/- for registration once in time + Rs. 20/- for yearly contribution)
(b) A beneficiary under this Act shall cease to be as such when he/she attains the age of 60 years or when he/she is not engaged in building or other construction work for not less than 90 days in a year
The Express report notes that the process of registration to the Board is a “complicated” one made worse by the fact that its deputy secretaries are facing bribery charges. The labour department also saw a change of guard, with the charge shifted to Manish Sisodia from Gopal Rai on October 14.
A PIL by activist Sunil Kumar Aledia, while hearing which the Delhi high court gave its abovementioned direction, contended that despite collection of over Rs 2,000 crore under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act in the names of lakhs of workers, only around 37,127 construction labourers who are registered are getting the benefits.
Also read: Deserted, Demeaned and Distressed: The Lot of Migrant Workers in the Delhi-Haryana Region
It has also claimed that there has been gross under-registration of construction workers in the National Capital since 2015, PTI had reported.
It is not just the absence of registration. The family have not been paid for their work, as have not several other labourers who worked at the school site.
The contractor, Ghaziabad-based Reliance Electric Works, which owes the family around Rs 50,000, brushed off the family’s claim when contacted by Express.
An official told the paper that in the last one and half years, Reliance Electric Works has released Rs 2 lakh for the labourers. “Using that, some workers who were owed up to Rs 12,000 could be given Rs 5,000-6,000,” he said, adding that as workers leave, they are quickly replaced at the site.
