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Sess Tax lying unused, BAI disappointed with the indifference of the government


Sess Tax lying unused, BAI disappointed with the indifference of the government
SHARES

For the economic and social welfare of the workers working in unorganised sectors, the builders deposit the one percent profit (Sess Tax) in every project to the Labor Welfare Fund. So far in 10 years, the state government has deposited Rs. 5 thousand crores.  255.94 crores in this deposit fund is for the welfare of workers engaged in construction work.

Moreover, this fund is for those who die due to accident during labour and this fund was created only for the maintenance of their family. But the shocking thing is that in spite of depositing such a huge amount, the government is not using any of it for the welfare of the labourers.  According to a report, about 40 thousand crore rupees are being deposited in this fund.

In 2007, the Secretary, Welfare Board, Shringiram, had directed the Central Government to set up an independent fund for the welfare of the workers working. According to this, the builders have to deposit this amount in the form of a tax of one percent of the total amount that goes into each project. There are 19 such schemes going on for registered labourers. But sadly, the labourers and their family members this amount does not reach the unregistered labourers or their family members at the time of the crisis. According to one figure, there is a total of 40 lakh labourers across the state, out of which five lakh are registered. And registration of only 2.98 lakh labourers out of these five lakh registered labours has been renewed, and the benefits of the scheme are also being received only by just the registered ones.

Unfortunately, these labourers do not even have enough documents to register themselves. Hence, now the Government is planning to hire private companies to register all the labourers in the country for the use of deposited funds. For this, the tender process is in progress. As a matter of fact, the Builders Association of India (BAI) is also upset with, seeing this indifferent attitude of the government.

BAI official Anand Gupta said that the government is not taking any concrete steps to register the workers. Our demand is that the labourers get the earliest registration and the proper use of the allotted amount. He further said in case the government's effort falls unsuccessful, the funds then should be used through organisations such as BAI, MCH and CREDAI.


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