Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, August 25
Construction workers have taken the legal route against the Labour Department on the issue of spending their welfare money of Rs 7.04 crore on the vaccination of workers across the state.
The workers have filed a writ petition in the High Court questioning the government against spending crores from the Building and Other Construction Workers' (BCOW) Welfare Board Fund for "vaccinating" workers.
The Labour Department had paid Rs 7.04 crore to the Health Department for the inoculation of construction workers. The workers alleged the decision to bear the cost of vaccination from the labour welfare fund was taken on May 7 under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary. Ironically, the decision came when the Centre had announced the rollout of vaccination for everyone above 18 years from May 1.
Sardara Singh, a worker, said: "We are also citizens of India and are entitled to be inoculated free of charge. Why are the funds meant to be spent on our welfare have been used for the vaccination process?"
Gurpyar Singh, another construction worker, said: "Having been registered as a construction worker doesn't mean that we have lost our right to free vaccination. Utilising labour board funds, other than the welfare of workers, is a violation of the apex court's orders."
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/38bVbgL
No comments:
Post a Comment