No misappropriation of funds by construction workers welfare board: AAP govt to HC

The counsel for the NGO refuted the contention and said that the department has not dealt with the CAG report in its affidavit. The CAG reply also stated that “the board may increase its efforts to provide more welfare measures to the construction workers so that the amount of cess collected is utilised for the purpose for which it is collected." It also pointed out that Rs 12.61 lakh was spent by the Board on the celebration of International Labour Day in May 2016 which was an avoidable payment.


PTI | New Delhi | Updated: 30-07-2020 22:23 IST | Created: 30-07-2020 22:05 IST
No misappropriation of funds by construction workers welfare board: AAP govt to HC
Representative image. Image Credit: ANI
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The AAP government in the Delhi High Court refuted the allegations of alleged misappropriation of cess fund to the tune of Rs 3,200 crore, made against the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare (BOCWW) Board in a PIL by an NGO. In its affidavit placed before a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar, the Delhi government's Labour department has said that under the BOCWW Act only five per cent of the amount spent on welfare activities can be spent on administration of the Board. "Hence, it would also be seen that cess funds of the Board can only be utilized for welfare measures and for administration of the Board and as such it is denied that the funds have been misappropriated or mis-utilised," the affidavit, filed through Delhi government additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose and advocate Urvi Mohan, said.

However, in its affidavit, the Labour department of the Delhi government is silent regarding the CAG report which highlighted alleged irregular expenditure of funds that were accumulated with the Board. The court, on July 14, had directed the Delhi government to file its response to the PIL and the affidavit filed by CAG in the matter.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its affidavit, had annexed various audit and inspection reports of the Board and informed the high court that till March 2018, Rs 2,636.74 crore was accumulated with the Board which should increase its efforts to provide more welfare measures to the workers. In its affidavit, the department has also said "there is no cash disbursement of any kind and all monetary benefits are provided to eligible registered construction workers by way of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) only. The department further said that only those construction workers who are registered with the Board are entitled to avail various welfare benefits from the cess funds of the Board, It has also said that presently a detailed enquiry into the allegations and complaints against the Board is being carried out by the Anti Corruption Bureau and its report is awaited. The department also said that "to facilitate and rope in a large number of building and other construction workers under the welfare net of various welfare schemes of the Board, assistant Electrical/Civil Engineers of various government bodies like MCDs, PWD, NDMC, Delhi Jal Board, DDA, DSIIDC, APMC have also been authorized as registering officers".

"This was done in order to increase the scope of registration of construction workers and also to stop registration of non-construction workers/bogus registration," it has said. It has also contended that the PIL by NGO Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Sansthan was "entirely frivolous and malafide and has no basis in facts or in law, and appears to have been filed to derail and disrupt the process of registration/renewal as well as consequent disbursal of benefits to the registered construction workers, that the Board is currently undertaking".    The counsel for the NGO refuted the contention and said that the department has not dealt with the CAG report in its affidavit.

The CAG reply also stated that “the board may increase its efforts to provide more welfare measures to the construction workers so that the amount of cess collected is utilised for the purpose for which it is collected." It also pointed out that Rs 12.61 lakh was spent by the Board on the celebration of International Labour Day in May 2016 which was an avoidable payment. It also added that there was an avoidable payment of Rs 48.93 crore as interest due to delay in filing income tax return and failure in assessing and discharging advance tax liability by the Board.

The CAG's audit covering the period 2016-18 also said there was an "irregular expenditure" of Rs 13.17 lakh meant for welfare of construction workers which were diverted for use of vehicles and drivers of the Labour Department for the period of 2016-17 and 2017-18 which should be recovered and credited to the cess fund. The PIL by the NGO has said each state has its own 'cess fund' which is collected for the owners/ employers of building and other construction works under the Building and Other Construction Workers (RE & CS) Act, through 1 per cent levy on the cost incurred on the project.

Till recently Delhi Cess fund has collected around Rs 3,200 crore. The fund was created exclusively for the benefit of registered construction workers.

The NGO has alleged bogus registration of lakhs of non construction workers and sought CBI probe into the purported large scale corruption. It has claimed that most of these bogus workers are security guards, auto and taxi drivers, factory and shop workers, house wives, maids, tailors and barbers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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