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NGOs seek better opportunity for construction workers

NEW DELHI: The Commonwealth Games Citizens’ Initiative on Workers, Women and Children (CWG-CWC) comprising representatives of several non-government organisations, labour trade unions and committed individuals in the Capital has drawn attention to the Government’s obligation to make the working and living conditions of construction workers and their children a priority in the Delhi Government’s agenda for the Commonwealth Games-2010.

At a press conference here this past week, the Initiative focussed on utilising this opportunity of the Commonwealth Games to bring about a change in the condition of construction workers and redress both their immediate and the long-term concerns such as provision of ration cards, electricity, water and sanitation facilities, given the scale of the Government’s investment in construction projects for the Games and the high number of migrant labour expected to move into the Capital for the same.

Harsh Mander, Special Commissioner to the Supreme Court in the Right to Food Case, said: “The Commonwealth Games is an enormous opportunity to appeal for a campaign to present our city as a caring and inclusive city and not a city that pushes its poor over. The Government and the city’s residents have to recognise that the city’s poor are entitled to the same facilities that we take for granted such as a home, livelihood, schooling facilities for our children among others.”

NGO Mobile Crèches secretary Anjali Alexander said: “According to an ASSOCHAM study, about 50,000-1,00,000 jobs per day will be created for the unskilled construction workers in Delhi including 10,000 jobs for women construction workers and 20,000 migrant children.”

“More importantly according to our cost calculations, the Government would only have to spend 0.03 per cent of cost of construction for the Commonwealth Games to provide workers with shelter, water, sanitation and crèches on site for children,” she added.

According to CWG-CWC members, currently the Labour Welfare Board in Delhi has not been able to match the success of Labour Welfare Boards in other States like Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Sanjay Kumar of NGO Sewa said: “The practical issues that construction workers have to grapple with include poor awareness about registration, non-availability of benefits even after registration and poor quality of registration cards among other problems. We have to facilitate the workers to access entitlements such as maternity benefits, compensation for accidents and illness.”

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