Labour lost?

Despite a boom in real estate, the state of thousands of construction labourers in West Bengal is abysmal.

The West Bengal government has turned its attention to the abysmal work conditions of construction labourers lately. And about time too. Several projects, big and small; residential, commercial, and infrastructure, have been announced or are under construction all over as the state rushes to catch up with the more developed ones.

Official estimates state that there are nearly 20 lakh labourers working on building sites all over West Bengal, making construction one of the biggest employers in the state, especially in rural areas.

The focus recently shifted on the despicable working conditions of the labourers in Kolkata where labourer-deaths were reported from two high-profile construction sites.

Earlier this year, one worker died after tumbling off the scaffolding on the 32nd floor of South City, the mega-residential project in south Kolkata "" he was apparently without the regulation safety helmet and life line.

The other serious accident took place when a portion of the second Vivekananda bridge on the Hooghly river collapsed killing some labourers.

Clearly, construction sites need to be monitored for their adherence to safety norms, both under the National Building Code and the rules under the West Bengal Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) "" (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2004 (BOCW).

The Central act of the same name was notified a decade ago and until now only seven states have notified it. Recently, the Supreme Court directed the Centre and state governments to submit reports on the measures taken to implement the legislation.

But then, the wheels of government grind exceeding slow. Even in West Bengal, it was only last year, one year after the notification, that the process of implementation of the act began with the constitution of a Construction Workers' Welfare Board and allotment of areas of jurisdiction.

The Factories Inspectorate, which will oversee the safety aspect, has swung into action, conducting around 150 inspections of building sites in the state. And while no penalties have yet been imposed, officials say, violations of legal specifications have been noted and the offenders ticked off.

But it is the welfare aspect of the notification that is posing a major challenge in implementation. The BOCW notification makes provisions for registration of workers on payment of Rs 20 and an equal sum as monthly fees, which makes them eligible for a variety of benefits for accidents or death, and loans for house-building, education and so on.

The registration card, which can be transferred between employers, would also help the government keep track of this large workforce.

The state labour ministry has been conducting road shows at various construction sites for the past six months, educating workers about its benefits, but the response so far has been poor.

According to a report compiled by the Workers' Welfare Board constituted under the law, up to April 30, 2006 only 12,059 workers had registered as beneficiaries in the state, the highest number in east Medinipore (3,973) while Kolkata recording only 96.

Employers too need to register, paying Rs 500 for upto 100 workers, Rs 2,000 for 100-500 workers and Rs 10,000 for numbers exceeding 500.

Besides this, they also need to pay one per cent of the project cost as cess towards labour welfare under a contiguous law, the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996, notified by the West Bengal government in 1998. Compliance here has been even lower "" upto May 2006, only two employers had registered "" one in East Medinipur and the other in Howrah.

As a member of the welfare board points out, the participation of the private sector is absolutely essential, since the government will not be contributing anything to the labour welfare measures, only administering "" through the welfare board "" the funds collected through the cess.

Realtors in Kolkata say that they have no problems with cess. According to Pradip Chopra, executive board member of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, "The cess only relates to the cost of civil construction, which is usually around 35-40 per cent of the total project cost. That comes to just 0.35-0.4 per cent of total cost, which is not that significant a figure. Besides, the cess is to be paid by the contractors who directly employ the labourers, not by the developers."

State labour ministry officials say they are going to step up awareness programmes and implementation in the next few months. The labourers, perched precariously on the scaffolds, will just have to wait until then.