Laws protecting workers flouted at CWG sites

A labour union claimed on Wednesday that provisions of law protecting construction workers were being 'blatantly' flouted by the authorites at Commonwealth Games construction sites and demanded the government to take necessary steps in this regard.

"Government and private enterprises are blatantly flouting the laws, rules and regulations that needed to be adhered to for the benefit of labourers working on various projects of Commonwealth Games 2010," Bhartiya Labour Union alleged.

The labour body also staged a demonstration in protest against the 'atrocities against labourers' in New Delhi

The union alleged: The Building and other Construction Workers Act, which has provisions for social security to workers in the construction industry and their families, clean drinking water facility on construction sites, creches at the sites with over 50 female workers, first-aid facilities, safety regulations and pension plans, is not being followed.

Saying that more than 3,00,000 labourers were engaged in the Commonwealth Games construction sites, Bhartiya Labour Union general secretary A Khan alleged, 'these labourers are working in dangerous conditions with not even the minimum wages and without job security in absence of basic living amenities such as maternity and child care.'

"The labourers working for the project are nowhere near as being treated as humans...In this time of inflation, the wages of labourers are a shocking Rs 80-90 per day," he alleged and demanded the government to increase their wages.