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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Supreme Court fiat to all States on disbursement of welfare cess by J Venkatesan

Supreme Court fiat to all States on disbursement of welfare cess by J Venkatesan

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published Published on Feb 9, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 9, 2012

Warns of contempt action in case of any default
The Supreme Court has directed the States of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep to implement the various schemes formulated for the welfare of the workers without any further delay.

A Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar gave this direction on Tuesday on a batch of contempt petitions filed by the National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour alleging that all the States had failed to implement the provisions of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulations of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and the Building and other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996.

The Bench divided the States into three categories. States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu which had constituted Welfare Boards and collected some cess, had, however, not collected the required quantum of cess and had also not distributed the amount to the registered applicants.

The Bench said: “Before we take any action against the officers responsible for enforcing the schemes and proper collection and disbursement of cess, we would grant a last and final opportunity to these States to file affidavits of compliance within four weeks subject to payment of Rs.10,000 each, as costs. The cost shall be payable to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.”

The Bench said under Category-II would come Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep where the cess amounts had not been distributed to the applicants for the reason that the competent authority in the State government had not approved the welfare schemes or the welfare fund had not been constituted.

The Bench directed these States to ensure that the fund was created and the schemes “are formulated and notified in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Cess Act within four weeks. The welfare schemes framed by the respective States/Union Territories shall be given due publicity and be brought to the notice of the concerned workmen and eligible applicants by the district authority/sub-committee responsible.”

The Bench said the States of Kerala, Punjab, Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep would come in the third category “where the States/Union Territory which have not given any details of the schemes framed, reasons for its non-implementation and consequent non disbursement of the cess amounts.” The Bench directed them to publicise the schemes in six weeks and file an affidavit.

Giving general directions to all the States, the Bench said: “It is clear from the affidavits filed on behalf of most of the States and Union Territories that they are not holding meetings of the Welfare Board as required, i.e., at least once in two months, to discharge their statutory functions. Further, it is also apparent that audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General has not been conducted of the funds placed at the disposal of the concerned authority. We may also notice that large funds are lying with the said welfare boards/authorities, but have not been disbursed. The possibility of these amounts being diverted by the State authority for other heads of expenditure in the respective States/Union Territories cannot be ruled out.”

The Hindu, 9 February, 2012, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2873681.ece


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