Centre asks states to use ₹77,000 crore BOCW cess for workers’ welfare

With about ₹77,000 crore in the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) cess corpus, the Centre has asked states to assess how the money is being used and identify new avenues to deploy it for workers’ long-term welfare, including pension and social security.

Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya made the call at a national conference of BOCW stakeholders in Mumbai on Friday, where he also flagged the possibility of providing pension support to construction workers and urged states to ensure wider social security coverage, a release in this regard said.

The BOCW cess is a levy collected from construction establishments to fund welfare schemes for construction workers.

The country has more than 7 crore construction workers, according to labour secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar, quoted in the release.

Mandaviya asked state governments to assess the current utilisation of cess funds, identify gaps and explore new avenues for their effective use, keeping in view the long-term welfare and social security of workers.

The call comes as the Centre seeks to strengthen welfare measures for a workforce whose employment is often characterised by mobility between construction sites and states. Kumar said welfare facilities need to be designed in a way that makes them accessible to workers wherever their work takes them.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje separately called on states to strengthen cess collection from construction establishments and ensure timely and transparent utilisation of the accumulated funds.

She said BOCW funds could be used for pension and social security for ageing workers, primary education support for workers’ children and healthcare coverage. Discussions during the meeting also called for greater attention to worker safety at construction sites and basic amenities such as toilets, sanitation facilities, creches for children of women workers and housing support.

The conference also focused on making welfare and employment services more accessible through digital systems.

Mandaviya also called for states to assess the impact of the Labour Codes after one year of their implementation and identify areas where execution needs to be strengthened.