To: The Chief Justice of Hyderabad High Court, Southern Bank of Moosi Nadi, Adjacent to Govt City College, Hyderabad
URGENT ATTN: SOS TO CHIEF JUSTICE OF HIGH COURT AT HYDERABAD
Dear Chief Justice garu,
Sub:
1. Rs.1655 crs fund as on 31 Aug 219 belonging to building and other construction workers lying unused with Telangana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board as per RTI reply dated October 2019
2. Non-implementation of Union Minister Advisory DT 24 march 2020 to transfer Telangana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess to Workers immediately.
3. non-Implementation of Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1996;
4. Non-implementation of THE INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN (REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1979
5. Building and Other Construction Workers Cess collected by Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board:
a) Cess collected not displayed on the website;
b) CEO Welfare Board admits that Aadhar card and bank account not collected during registration;
c) unregistered workers would not be paid;
Ref:
1. Our representation to union minister and chief minister of 15 april 2020(appended below);
2. Advisory of 24 march 2020 from Union Labour minister to all state government to use the Building and Other Construction Workers Cess and deposit in accounts of construction workers;
3. Our tele-discussion with CEO of TBOCWW board of 16 april 2020;
We appeal your august offices to resolve the crisis by enabling reaching of the entitlement of Building and Other construction workers welfare cess to the construction workers as a top priority.
1. Thousands of construction workers are not registered with Building and other construction workers welfare board, yet they are still in construction sector. We pray that Welfare Board Cess be rushed to them as they are stranded Building and Other Construction Workers migrated from other states to Hyderabad and all districts of Telangana. Why they have not been registered be also taken cognizance of?
2. We are dismayed that in spite of union minister advisory of 24 march 2020 the building and other construction workers have not been credited with their entitlement dues by the Telangana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board from the Cess amount collected from lacs of crores of construction outlays undertaken by the government, PSUs, private entities, etc.as per the Implementation of Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act of 1996: PAYABLE CESS ON THE CONSTRUCTION WORKS U/s 3(1) of the BOCWW Cess Act, 1996, every construction establishment has to pay Cess @1% on the cost of the construction:-(a) Construction work in relation to his own residence if the total cost of such construction is 10 lacs or above as defined U/s 2(j) of the B&OCWW(RE&CS) Act,1996.(b) Construction establishment irrespective of the cost of Construction as defined U/s 2(d) of the B&OCWW(RE&CS) Act, 1996. Further details can be obtained from the concerned Assistant Commissioner of Labour/ Deputy Commissioner of Labour/ Joint Commissioner of Labour of the District.
3. As per the website, there are around 10 lac registered workers.
Secondly, as per the skill-wise, district wise list of registered workers is around 15 lacs:
Thirdly, as per the registered workers’ district-wise list, the number of registered workers is 15,35,455:
Valid workers column which means the registration has not been renewed is only about 8 lacs.
We lay our appeal at the threshold of halls of Justice, that all workers registered and unregistered, renewed or not renewed, be made entitled from the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess funds to the tune of Rs.1655 crores as on 31 August 2019, that are pending with the Telangana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare. No funds which is their entitlement has reached the workers till date.
4. It is highly depressing to understand from the TBOCWW Board, as well as the media, that the registered workers even though registered thru Form VII, crucial details such as bank account have not been taken and are now been tracked. As the Employer details and Contractor details are mandatory to be recorded with the TBOCCWB it should not be difficult to trace the workers account and Aadhar details. In spite of having a network of data, the government has not yet released the amount to the workers thus far.5- As per Section 6. of THE INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN (REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1979 there is a prohibition against employment of inter-State migrant workmen without registration by the employer.
As per Section 12 of the ISMW Act, licensed contractor furnishes all details of the interstate migrant worker at the state authority from where recruited and also at the state authority where employed. A passbook is issued to the migrant worker that specifies details including displacement allowance. If this rule is complied with, all information of movement of inter-state migrant workers is readily available and giving them their entitlement of Workers Welfare would be a smooth going.
6. We expect that all information relating to cess collected from governmental building and other construction works, PSUs, private agencies, etc. in terms of each work executed and each agency that executed work, be put up on the website immediately, which should have been proactively displayed before a citizen asks for it, as per the RTI Act 2005.
7. We appeal that all dues from the such governmental building and other construction works, PSUs, private agencies, etc be immediately called for payment failing which section 12 and 15 of the BOCWW Act be invoked.
We understand from the CPM party that around Rs.160 crores of CESS is due from L&T Metro. Stay obtained from High Court on the notice to pay up L&T’s Workers Cess dues.
We pray that in these crucial times where a huge global pandemic has erupted into a humanitarian crisis of survival due to lack of basic necessities, Government of Telangana that has caused undue delay in allowing entitlements of workers which is unpardonable in the given precarious and heart-rendering human survival scenarios that are erupting each day, be directed to enable the TBOCWW Cess be reached to the workers;
We pray that all dues be called for and all workers be given their entitlements with full dignity and an apology.
We pray that every worker who has registered, who has not registered, who has registered but has not renewed, be all given their share of entitlement from the Telangana Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board that holds the funds.
We repose our trust in your august office as always to render justice to the Building and Other Construction workers most of who are inter- and intra- state migrants.
Best,
Prof Sandeep Pandey, Vice President, Socialist Party (India)
Dr Lubna Sarwath, Telangana General Secretary, SP(I)
