When it comes to welfare of building and other construction workers, the government seems to be lagging far behind, as is evident from the disparity between the level of construction activity going in the state and the amount accumulated in the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Fund.
Building and construction workers, who come under the unorganised sector, are anywhere between 30 lakh to 40 lakh, when only those engaged in work for more than 90 days is taken into consideration. “As of today, we have 18 lakh building and construction workers registered with us,” Andhra Pradesh Building and Construction Workers Welfare Board secretary Murali Sagar said.
The building and other construction workers welfare cess collected in the state so far since the relevant Act came into force in 2007 was a mere Rs 1,200 crore. Experts say the construct activity in the state, in terms of value, could be in several lakhs of crores.
Under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, the board had to collect 1 to 2 percent of the value of the construction taking place from the owners or builders of the project and the amount will be deposited with the Building and Other Construction Welfare Fund.
Of the Rs 1,200 crore collected so far, nearly 80 percent was paid by government departments. There is not much contribution from private players engaged in construction.
Though Hyderabad is witnessing huge construction activity, with IT and other projects coming up, it does not feature even among the top 10 districts in cess collection, says PS Ajay of Andhra Pradesh Vyavasaya Vruthidarulua Sangam.
He says that most of the workforce that is migrating from rural areas is engaged in construction activity, but the percentage of workers registered for the benefits of the welfare fund is very less. “Unfortunately, the labour department is not equipped enough to deal with the situation as they are short- staffed,” he says.
When the issue was raised with the welfare board secretary, he admitted that there is no strong mechanism in place for the collection of cess and labour department staff are engaged in several other activities pertaining to labour welfare.
He says the amount in the welfare fund would not be sufficient for the two important schemes that the board is contemplating to introduce. “We are planning a health card, which can be used even for OP checkups, and a pension scheme. Each scheme would require minimum `1000 crore to start with,” he said.
It is being felt that if the cess is collected effectively, there would be more than sufficient fund to implement those two schemes, which will add to existing benefits like marriage gift and maternity benefit.