CONSTRUCTION workers working in organised and unorganised sectors held a protest demonstration on August 2, at the office of the CEO/secretary of BOCW Welfare Board Jammu. They strongly denounced the management of the welfare board for its casual approach to providing social security benefits to beneficiaries of schemes framed under J&K BOCW(RE&CS) Rules 2006. A large number of construction workers participated in the demonstration with placards in their hands.

Om Parkash,  general secretary of the state committee of CITU said in his address that BOCW (RE&CS) Act was enacted for providing social security benefits to more than six crore construction workers of our country and to cover them under the Act by making the registration process easier. In the year 2015, the CEO/secretary of J&K BOCW created a hurdle in the speedy process of registration by circulating an order on June 4, 2015, with the directions that an employment certificate should be signed by the concerned BDO/tehsildar, instead of registered trade union/sarpanch/corporator, etc., as per Act, he said.

Speaking on this occasion Jagdish Sharma, national secretary of the Construction Workers Federation of India said that 46,197 registered construction workers of 10 districts of the Jammu region have submitted their children's education assistance claims in November 2021 in respect of their school-going children for the academic session 2021-22 for which the payment would have been made in the month of February – March 2022. However, only  5004 workers across the Jammu region have got payment so far and the rest of the claims are still pending even after the lapse of nine months period.

More than 5000 children education assistant claims for the academic session 2019-20 in the office of ALC Jammu and more than 1000 are lying pending in the office of ALC Kathua for the same academic session. The situation in other districts is also no better. He said other claims like medical assistance, financial assistance for marriage, death compensation, maternity benefits etc., are also lying pending for years together with the welfare board. When we asked the concerned officials for reasons for the non-payment of CEA they reply that the chairman of the board is still not appointed and therefore the budget has not been approved.

Raj Kumar, general secretary Bhawan Nirman Kamgar Union- Kathua and WC Member of CWFI said in his address that BOCW Welfare Board of other states/UTs is providing a number of welfare schemes like pension, housing loans, financial assistance for marriage, working tools & safety equipment, cycles and bonus on Diwali and Eid etc., to construction workers but J&KBOCW Welfare Board is providing only one regular benefit of children education assistance even for which payment is not made on time. Further, he said that the agency which was hired by the labour department for feeding all records of construction workers online has not seeded the correct particulars of all registered construction workers as a result the workers are facing a lot of problems. He urged upon the government to provide all benefits at par with other states/UT boards to the construction workers of J&K and release payments of all pending claims.

Others who spoke in the meeting were Muzfar Wani, president & Romesh Chand, general secretary, Nirman Mazdoor Union Jammu,  Ajit Raj, Gobind Singh, general secretary, Liaquat Ali, president & Rattan Verma from the  Border Roads Casual Paid Workers Union (J&K).