Over half the amount collected in the form of a cess on construction projects to fund welfare schemes for workers has not been utilised so far, the Labour and Employment Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The cess, collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996, is supposed to be used by State and Union Territory welfare boards to implement welfare schemes for construction workers. From the enactment of the law till now, a total of ₹78,521.24 crore had been collected, of which ₹35,399.40 crore had been spent, Minister of State for Labour Rameswar Teli’s written reply to Biju Janata Dal MP Amar Patnaik said.
The reply stated that the Centre “issues instructions to state/UT Governments to ensure proper utilisation of the cess fund as per mandate of the Act”. During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the Ministry had instructed States to use the cess for welfare schemes for workers.
