Construction workers seek Supreme Court for relief schemes

A construction worker's association has sought ex-gratia relief schemes from the Supreme Court for the daily workers who will suffer a loss of income due to a complete ban on construction activities imposed by National Capital Region (NCR) states to curb air pollution. As per a petition filed by the National Campaign Committee for Central Legislation on Construction Labour, a complete ban on construction activities without excluding the ones which do not cause air pollution is irrational, arbitrary and whimsical. Despite a dedicated corpus of Rs 2,700 crore, the government of Delhi failed to frame the ex-gratia relief schemes for construction workers for the time of the complete ban. It said that the government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and the Haryana government have failed to identify the pollution causing construction activities. It was submitted that the ban would be limited to demolition and excavation only. The plea added that the bans would unnecessarily overwhelm the rights and livelihood of the construction workers without even contributing towards reducing air pollution. It said that the construction ban without due notice and publicity will make the workers insecure and unaware and would result in harassment of the workers by the implementing agencies. It added that due to such bans, the workers and petty contractors tend to disobey due to a lack of clarity, and they are unable to plan and identify their sources of income. Image Source