Mainstream WeeklyIn recent years in the course of several interviews I conducted in the slums, resettlement colonies and labor chowks (places where daily wage workers gather every morning to seek employment) of Delhi, I was distressed from hearing increasing complaints that the welfare benefits secured after campaigning for several years for helpful laws were being denied on a large scale to construction workers. While several construction workers, including women, never received these benefits, what was even more distressing was that these were discontinued in the case of several workers who had earlier started receiving these benefits.
It was shocking that even in the case of some elderly activist workers who had long been involved in the campaigns for protective welfare laws, the denial or discontinuation of benefits was a tragic reality.
What is more, workers were finding it increasingly difficult to register themselves for securing these benefits, even though several agents to register them for a fee had started proliferating.
Now in the first week of August the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the welfare of building and other construction workers (BOCW) of Delhi has confirmed some of the worst trends relating to the denial of important welfare benefits mandated by laws to construction workers.
Delhi being the capital city and having one of the highest concentrations of construction workers should have led in proper implementation of the law but unfortunately the city in recent years has proved to be one of the worst performers, as confirmed now by the CAG report.
In fact on the basis of my consistent reporting from the slums of Delhi on the implementation of the two laws enacted in 1996 for construction workers, three phases can be identified. The first period was one of disappointment as the government did not go ahead rapidly with implementing the laws in any effective way. However there was a second phase when implementation started in ways which gave hope to many workers. It was heartwarming to see elderly construction workers feeling very happy with the pension they had started receiving. Younger couples were also very happy that the educational prospects of their children had improved as they had started receiving scholarships. Then there were other benefits such as partially meeting marriage expenses and help given at the time of accidents. This brought a lot of hope to workers and during this phase there was a big upsurge in the efforts of the workers to get themselves registered for receiving these benefits.
Unfortunately, however, before these benefits could reach a larger number of BOC workers, the implementation of the welfare laws dipped again in colonies like Bawana, Shahbad Dairy, Haidarpur and several working class clusters in Rohini that I was visiting. Workers were very disappointed at this, but the hope for improvement remained, although gradually even this hope started declining.
However there were two factors which still gave hope. One was that the High Court and the Supreme Court had given directions for the improved implementation of the law.
Secondly, the Delhi government started releasing money for workers when they were unemployed due to the ban on construction work during winter months to curb excessive pollution. Workers thought that at least something is coming from the fund meant for them.
What many of them did not realize was that this help should have come from an extra provision or source, and not from the fund dedicated by law to provide various kinds of welfare benefits. Thus, without tapping alternative means for providing relief, the Delhi state government was in fact unfairly emptying the fund meant for dedicated important welfare benefits. While fund utilization has been quite bad in Delhi, it would appear to be even worse if this extra fact is taken into consideration.
To appreciate the actual situation better, it may be recalled that keeping in view the dismal working and living conditions of the construction workers, who along with domestic workers comprised the largest number of workers in many cities like Delhi, a campaign was carried out for many years for comprehensive welfare laws for construction workers at the national level. This writer reported on this campaign widely and extended strong support, writing over fifty articles and several booklets in English and Hindi.
Finally, two laws were passed in 1996. These laws created a system of collecting 1 per cent cess on all construction contracts and projects to create a fund for many-sided welfare benefits to construction workers, to be administered by boards for BOC workers to be created in all states and union territories. This was a creative way of creating a system for the welfare of workers without imposing any extra burden on the budgetary resources of the government.
Subhash Bhatnagar has been a co-ordinator of this campaign and also of Nirmana voluntary organization which first struggled for this campaign and then for the better implementation of these laws all over India but with special emphasis on Delhi. He says,