Whether Labour and Employment Department in Jammu and Kashmir is fully complying with the regulatory mechanism for the overall welfare of the labour force engaged in the building and construction activities across the UT, whether schemes tailored for them, in this connection, are being implemented properly, whether social security measures meant for the labour class and their families are taken in letter and spirit, last but not least, whether labour cess levied @1per cent on the construction cost incurred by an employer is being utilised for the labour class and allied issue are and must be subjected to regular audit. To start with, proper registers are not maintained to ascertain the actual number of construction workers, which benefits after registration they were entitled to and other facilities available through various labour welfare schemes have never been publicised indicating all was not well with the issue of welfare and empowerment of the labour force engaged in construction activities which is the prime objective of the concerned Labour Department. In the functioning of the Department, therefore, several irregularities having been pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to an extent of virtually impeaching it, while being a cause of concern, warrant to be duly attended to and irregularities set right on priority basis.
It is surprising that the amount of the labour cess should keep on increasing by virtue of huge portions unspent and funds lying idle with the Banks fetching nominal interest while interests of the labour class getting ignored and eclipsed indicating that statutory provisions even are given not two hoots as unspent balances worked out in the cess account are projecting an increase within a period of five years from Rs.296 crore to Rs.622 crore. Registrations have been made without obtaining valid certificates, proof of age, who employed them etc and whether they had eligibility for registration has been found to have been not systematic. On the other hand, as per the rules, such funds are required to be transferred to the Board for Construction and Other Building Workers by the District ALCs which has not been done in the procedural manner.
While the cess came into operation for levying at one percent in 2006 and the same has been levied and deposited, on the other hand, the workers started getting the assistance only with effect from the years 2011 , 2012 which has been pointed out in the audit report of the CAG . Whether all contractors’ payments made by the Board had paid the cess amount and whether the same had duly been received/recovered and deposited with the concerned wing , there appears to be no transparency and maintenance of proper records which too having found out by the audit need to be looked into as any wilful ”relaxation” or any exemption was not only anti regulatory but an injustice heaped on the labour class and such short recovery , if any, must not only be fully recovered with costs but those responsible made effectively accountable. Audit of the welfare schemes for the labour class on a token basis in six districts in Jammu and Kashmir having been found inconsistent and unsatisfactory projecting the working of the Labour Department as such.
The Board for Construction and Other Building Workers which is mandated to run the welfare schemes is found faltering on other parameters as well since financial statements have not been prepared for years together which are in arrears for eight years. Not taking due interest of the money collected and held in trust by the ALCs and not specifying to the Bank which type of account such money should be kept in , the Bank applying their rules of which accounts in savings Bank portfolio were eligible to earn interest, transferred such accounts from interest earning savings to no interest earning current accounts where even half yearly incidental charges are recovered resulting in a loss of over Rs.12 lakh during the two year period only. Multifarious deviations and breaches in the relevant regulatory system in respect of the interests of the labour class as pointed out by the supreme auditors of the country is a fit ground for ordering a revamp in the Labour and Employment Department while it shows how much important is audit and inspection at regular intervals.
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