States collect Rs 38,000 crore as construction workers welfare cess

As much as Rs 38,514 crore has been collected as construction workers welfare cess by states and Union territories till December 31, 2017, Parliament was informed.Out of this, Rs 9,756 crore has been spent as on December 31, 2017, Labour MinisterSantosh Gangwar said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier, the Supreme Court had also made observation about the thousands of crores rupees lying idle which is meant for the welfare of these workers. Former Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had also written several times to states to constitute labour welfare boards to utlise this money for welfare of the workers. The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996, provides for levy and collection of cess. The cess has been levied and is being collected at 1 per cent of the cost of construction. The cess is collected by states and Union territories and utilised for the welfare of building and other construction workers by the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Boards constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. The minister also informed the House that as many as 28,152,982 workers under the law has been registered by states and union territories.