BHUBANESWAR: Bizarre as it may sound but the Orissa Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board under Labour and Employment Department wants to construct multi-storey buildings for construction workers instead of focusing on their social benefits for which it has been collecting one per cent cess from all ongoing construction works in the State. The cess is deposited in the Orissa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Fund which was created in 2009 as per the provisions of the Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulations of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. So far, close to ` 150 crore has been collected by the State Government but precious little has been spent on welfare of the registered construction labourers of the State. Now the Board has asked the Works Department to prepare a provision plan estimate and land requirement for construction of multi-storey buildings. When the Labour Department constituted the Board in 2004 and went in for its re-constitution four years later, its mandate was to extend financial assistance to workers or their kin in case of accident, death, maternity, loans and advances for construction of house, skill upgradation, education, marriage among other needs. However, the Board has proposed to construct multi-storey buildings for construction workers in Bhubaneswar as well as all at district headquarters. While 500 housing units by way of multi-storey buildings are proposed in the State Capital, district headquarters will have 100 houses each. Each house, with an estimated 300 to 400 sq ft, will have all amenities while the housing colony will have road, water, electricity, sewerage besides other community facilities. The Board suggested that the Works Department present a model plan for the four-storey building in Bhubaneswar and colonies in district headquarters. Even as the planning process is underway, a petition has been filed before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by a workers’ forum which alleged that the State Government had failed to implement the Act in letter and spirit as a result of which registration of establishments, identification, registration and issue of identity cards to construction workers, collection of cess and welfare measures have not taken off.“The Board has collected barely about Rs 132 crore in two years which is less compared to other states some of which have collected over Rs 500 crore,” Rakshyakar of Pragatishila Sramik Manch said in the petition to NHRC. He said the construction workers fail to get necessary benefits as deaths and injuries are not recorded and maintained by contractors or owners for the absence of legislative requirements. Besides, non-maintenance is also attributed to fear of police investigations and administrative problems. Although deaths and injuries among the construction workers are highly prevalent, the petition said no proper statistics of accidents or safety management systems in construction activities, their safety, health and welfare is maintained. Cases of death benefits are not even disposed of on priority.
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