The Kerala Building Construction Workers Welfare Board has run up pension dues of ₹468.82 crore during the eight-month period between last November and this June.
This has been revealed by the board in response to a Right to Information (RTI) petition filed by RTI activist Raju Vazhakkala.
As on April this year, the board has 20,73,634 members who are entitled to pension from the age of 60 years. The board members, however, have continued to make their monthly contribution without fail till now. The members are required to make a monthly contribution of ₹50 towards pension and are entitled to a pension of ₹1,600 a month, which is revised by the State government from time to time.
The board has attributed the pending dues to the progressive rise in the number of pensioners and the collection of building cess disproportionate to the hike in pension.
“Construction workers are among the most downtrodden and unorganised section of workers. The pending dues in the meagre pension have hit their lives badly. It is imperative that the issues are resolved at the earliest and the dues are cleared ahead of Onam next month,” said Mr. Vazhakkala.
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