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Built on bias?

Sujata Madhok

``For 25 years, I have built houses for the rich in this city. My husband and children too have worked to build houses and offices for other people. Yet we don't have a proper house of our own,'' says Kesari Devi, a middle-aged construction worker from R ajasthan, who lives and works at construction sites in New Delhi.

And, as if moving from one site to another and from one contractor to the next for work is not bad enough, women construction workers face another major problem -- they are paid the lowest wages in the industry. Gender-bias ensures that women are denied training and do not become skilled to handle better paying jobs such as masons, plumbers or electricians.

Yet life could change a bit for Kesari Devi and millions of other women like her if State Governments decide to implement two Central Acts, passed four years ago, to benefit construction workers. In August 1996, the Government enacted the Building and ot her Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act and the Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act.

These two Acts introduced social security and welfare measures for an industry where transitory employer-employee relationships make it impossible to implement conventional labour welfare legislation.

The Acts also introduced the mechanism of Construction Welfare Boards to register employers and workers and administer a cess of one-two per cent of the estimated cost of any building to be collected from the building owner and used for paying benefits t o the workers.

At a seminar conducted by the National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour (NCC-CL) in New Delhi recently, two success stories in Tamil Nadu and Kerala were discussed to show that if implemented, these Acts can be of immense benefit to women construction workers.

The quantum of benefits possible, thanks to these Acts, was highlighted by the Labour Secretary to the Tamil Nadu Government.

Persistent lobbying by a vibrant trade union of construction workers in the State has led to the introduction of a welfare scheme. Under this scheme, any worker can register with a Tripartite Board by paying a fee of Rs 25. This entitles the worker to gr oup personal accident insurance, financial assistance for the delivery of a child, assistance for children's education and marriage, and assistance for the family in case of the worker's death.

Anyone who undertakes construction work in the State has to pay 0.3 per cent of its cost to the Board. Until October-end this year, the Board had managed to collect Rs 25 crore. Today, the Board has more than two-and-a-half lakh registered workers and in surance benefits have been paid to 58 workers who were either injured or died in accidents.

Kerala is the other State where legislation was enacted as far back as 1989, following a continuous struggle by workers. Kerala has now adopted the two Central Acts. In April this year, the Kerala Board had six-lakh registered workers. It has also collec ted Rs 23 crore and paid Rs 6 crore in benefits including pensions, family pensions, medical ex-gratia and accident benefits.

``It is a great shame that the other State Governments have not cared to formulate the rules and implement the Central Acts even four years after they were passed,'' said R. Geetha, a leader of the Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangam, which has been the movi ng force behind the construction workers' campaign.

S.K. Das, the Director General of Labour Welfare, who is sympathetic to the construction workers' cause, admitted, ``We have asked State Governments to notify the rules and implement the Acts, but there has not been enough response.''

State labour officials from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, however, maintained that they were in the process of notifying the Acts, framing rules, setting up boards and appointing staff members.

Meanwhile, at the Central level, the NCC-CL continues to lobby for amendment of the Central Acts since they have obvious loopholes and shortcomings. For instance, the Acts do not apply to those working on sites where less than 10 workers are employed; no cess is to be levied on housing costing under Rs 10 lakh; there is no compulsory registration of employers and workers. NCC-CL believes that it is vital to empower the Tripartite Construction Boards to regulate employment and wages, provide social secur ity and welfare, resolve disputes and act as enforcement agencies.

Says Subhash Bhatnagar, National Coordinator of the NCC-CL, ``Without these measures, the Boards cannot be effective. While pushing for implementation of the Central Acts we are simultaneously demanding amendments. Our struggle must go on.''

Women's Feature Service

Picture by Parth Sanyal