This article proposes a tripartite solution-ing model (between NGOs, State BOCW Welfare Board and District Labour Commissioner’s office) to unlock unspent funds of the State (BOCW) Welfare Board. This is written on the basis of the Social Compact Initiative’s on-ground experience in working with industries and informal workers.
The pandemic exacerbated the vulnerabilities of already vulnerable informal workers and pushed them into further poverty. According to the ILO, the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the informal sector in general and in the construction sector, in particular, has been high compared to other sectors. Tripartite cooperation and social dialogue, together with the application of international labour standards, are suggested as key factors in promoting a human-centred recovery from the crisis. In this opinion piece, a creative tripartite solution-ing is suggested to tackle some of the design and implementation challenges in the delivery of social security, primarily through online portals like eShram & eNirman, as a constructive way forward.
Background
A major implementation challenge in this regard is the identification of eligible workers who can be registered under the respective states’ Building & Other Construction (BOCW) Welfare Board. Post identification, the ensuing challenges are registration (owing to the digital divide) and subsequent follow up for actual delivery of entitlements. Amongst other systemic issues, low registrations is a primary reason for unspent funds. The RTI response (link above) reveals that there are only 76,897 building and other construction workers registered as “beneficiaries” in Gujarat – and this number is a far cry away from the actual number of building and other construction workers.
It is pertinent to note that there is a duty under Section 12 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of employment and conditions of Service) Act, 1961 (BOCW Act) to register building and construction workers as “beneficiaries”. The main objective of the BOCW Act was to provide workers with social security benefits from the money collected (as CESS) under Section 3 of the BOCW Act. However, as mentioned earlier, this number is a far cry away from the total number of construction workers in Ahmedabad itself, let alone all of Gujarat. Further, the main function of the BOCW Welfare Board is to register workers as beneficiaries and provide immediate assistance (as given under Section 22 of the BOCW Act) in case of:
- Case of accidents,
- Make pension payments,
- Sanction loans for the construction of a house,
- Monetary support in paying premia for the Group Insurance Scheme of the beneficiaries,
- Give financial assistance for the education of children of the beneficiaries,
- Meet such medical expenses for treatment of major ailments of a beneficiary or, such dependant,
- Make a payment of maternity benefits to the female beneficiaries,
- Make provision and improvement of such other welfare measures and facilities.
These are critical social security covers, in the absence of which workers live on the edge. Their daily wages are barely enough to cover their day-to-day expenses, which leaves them extremely vulnerable and unable to afford healthcare and other social security benefits listed above.
The unspent money is not only due to lower registration but even for those who are registered, unlocking benefits is difficult due to procedural barriers in the processes leading up to the actual benefit. One more part of the implementation gap is the differing procedures in different states, which translates as multiple registrations that will have to be carried out by migrant workers.
Therefore, implementing the BOCW Welfare Board Funds requires a dedicated body (ideally, bodies) that can navigate through procedural issues and ensure the successful delivery of social security to informal workers. However, our ground experience tells us that the BOCW Welfare Board does not have the money to do end-to-end facilitation and delivery of these entitlements.
Therefore, a tripartite solution-ing (between NGOs, State BOCW Welfare Board and District Labour Commissioner’s office) is proposed in this article to unlock the 1,951 crore rupees worth of unspent funds (as of 1st February 2022) in Gujarat State Building and Other Construction (BOCW) Welfare Board (refer to RTI here) for the benefit of workers. Furthermore, it is suggested that a similar collaborative model is adopted in other States with unspent BOCW Welfare Board funds as well.
The Tripartite Collaboration
1. Enhanced registration through mobile Workers’ Facilitation Centers (WFCs): The first and foremost solution is to create awareness and thereby ensure “beneficiary” registrations proportionate to the actual number of building and construction workers in Gujarat. As mentioned earlier, the BOCW Welfare Board is an administrative body that does not have the money to conduct awareness campaigns and registration drives.
However, these functions can be carried out effectively by a WFC; it would act as the facilitation body that helps identify eligible workers and their subsequent registrations. Since the number of construction sites is high, a mobile WFC is proposed as a solution for far-reaching impact. It is clear from our experience that many workers face challenges in preparing the pre-requisite documents for applying for entitlements.
One of the most common issues among migrant workers is a mobile number and Aadhar card linking. Without an updated Aadhar card, it is impossible to register under the eNirman scheme (beneficiary under Gujarat BOCW welfare board). Bottlenecks like these leading up to the actual registration process can be resolved with the help of a functional WFC.
2. Facilitation of other entitlements through WFC: It is pertinent to note that the WFC will play a crucial role in facilitating other social security entitlements, which are outside the purview of the BOCW Act but essential in terms of creating a robust social security net for an informal worker. These include entitlements like Ayushman Bharat, PM Jeevan Jyoti Suraksha Bima Yojana, Old age pension, widow pension, Maatrutva Vandana Yojana, etc.
Further, the WFC will facilitate the application process for different guarantees allotted to a “beneficiary” under the BOCW Act, like a subsidized loan for building their home, financial support for their children’s education expenses, etc.
With a functional WFC in place, apart from unlocking BOCW-related entitlements, it will be a space to facilitate identity and other social security-related entitlements as well. One of the biggest challenges faced by migrant workers is access to fair price rations owing to the issue of portability.
One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme was introduced in 2019 with a vision to respond to this particular vulnerability faced by migrant workers. However, research shows that an estimated 880,000 households expressed a desire to use portable ration cards but did not know they could access them. Raising awareness, in addition to clearly informing PDS dealers about the possibility of inter-state portability, could unlock benefits for them. This missing execution piece can be efficiently carried out by the tripartite WFC as proposed above.
3. Legislative backing for the solution: As discussed above, WFCs are quintessential to unlocking BOCW Welfare Board funds and facilitating and delivering other entitlements. The legislature recognized the importance of WFCs and provisioned for the establishment of the same (albeit under the discretion of the respective state governments) under Section 9 of the Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008.
Research clearly points out that WFCs are not established in many states, and even the ones established were not fully functional. Therefore, conceptually, WFCs are an effective body for service delivery if the implementation loopholes are fixed.
One of the most significant loopholes in establishing WFCs is the lack of visibility that the state government has on the locations of workers’ nakas/workers’ communities, including a lack of awareness of the complexity of issues on the ground. This can be addressed by collaborating with local CSOs/NGOs/trade unions who are already active in the given location along with industry partners.
4. Advocacy for better data protection in India: The grave repercussions of public infrastructure portals operating without legislative backing have been established through multiple security breaches that have occurred in the past, including the serious privacy concerns raised by the Arogya Setu App.
Therefore, mass registration portals for social security like eShram, eNirman, etc., have to be backed by legislation that robustly outlines sunset clauses, redressal mechanisms for privacy breaches as well as non-delivery of entitlements owing to technical errors, and other rights. Our advocacy and long-term digital rights campaigns would have to take shape with the rights of workers at their heart.
5. Utilization of funds and audit for transparency and accountability: When looking to solve this implementation gap, there is value in looking at Section 22(3) of the BOCW Act – which provisions for the BOCW Welfare Board to pay grants-in-aid to a local authority or to an employer whoever provides welfare measures and facilities for the benefit of the building workers and the members of their family.
It is proposed that WFCs run in collaboration with employers/industry bodies, NGOs with expertise in this area, and the District Labour Commissioner’s office can play an impactful role in facilitating the entitlements of the building and construction workers. Therefore, if the BOCW Welfare Board invests its funds in operationalizing these WFCs, it helps in achieving the objectives for which it was constituted in the first place.
Further, the provision for auditing the utilization of the BOCW Welfare Board funds (which can be extended to the working of the WFCs established with these funds) can be carried out in accordance with Section 27 of the BOCW Act; in a manner determined by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or any person appointed by him.
Additionally, to clear bottlenecks and ensure smooth functioning of WFCs, the Labour commissioner’s office must appoint a nodal office in every district that can oversee the functioning of the WFCs and release bottlenecks in terms of entitlement facilitation processes. This way, an end-to-end process is audited- right from registration to the delivery of actual benefit/entitlement.
Therefore, this impactful tripartite collaboration is proposed for unlocking the unutilized BOCW Welfare funds as well as other social security entitlements of workers across Gujarat. A similar model can be adopted in other States with unutilized funds in BOCW Welfare Boards as well.