Labour Ministries collect the construction cess, but fail to use them for construction workers’ welfare
Spending of construction cess collected by States continues to be lower than the expected amount. According to the Labour Ministry, 35 States and Union territories together collected Rs 14,099 crore up to March 31, 2014. This was collected as a cess for the construction workers’ welfare, but used only Rs 2,382 crore.
However Kerala once again emerged as the best State in terms of spending the cess. It gives a feeling to the rest of the nation that Kerala truly cares for its workforce and wants to give them a better life. Kerala which houses about 2.21 million workers collected Rs 954.5 crore and spent Rs 888.1 crore up to March 31.
The cess, which constitutes 1% of the construction cost, is supposed to be collected and used for the welfare of the construction workers by the State Governments and worker welfare boards. However for the construction workers to be benefited by this cess, registration of the workers is a must.
According to the National Sample Survey 68, only a little over one crore workers had been registered. The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Vishnu DeoSai, informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Monday that up to March 31, 2014, there are over 5 crore building and construction workers in the country. A lot of registration work needs to be completed so that all the construction workers can be brought under the ambit of this cess.
Source- The Hindu Business Line
35 States and Union territories, Labour and Employment, Labour Ministry, National Sample Survey 68, Vishnu DeoSai
