Wake up, expedite benefits assured to Games workers, court tells agencies

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday slammed various agencies involved in the construction projects for the Commonwealth Games for their slow approach allow the benefits assured to the workers.

The court also pulled up the petitioner in the case, who demanded a ‘quick’ decision and its implementation in the case.

“You (petitioner) go to sleep, they (authorities) also go to sleep, wake up at the last moment and expect a miracle,” a Division Bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta remarked.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government’s standing counsel Najmi Waziri submitted a report that 2,302 passbooks were issued between January and April this year and that the registration of the workers was also underway.

The court also demanded to know if all agencies involved in hiring workers for the Games projects had furnished all information, along with a list of workers, to the state government.

The counsel for the Delhi International Airport Limited told the court that they had already supplied a list of labourers to the government and they will soon submit another list containing details of 2,000 labourers.

Irked, the court asked, “Why did you not do it earlier? If not earlier, you should have done it at least by now.”

During the hearing, the petitioner, Peoples’ Union For Democratic Rights, intervened requesting the court to ask the state government to act soon. They contended that by the time the process concludes, the migrant labourers would have returned to their native states.

Justice Lokur said: “Why did you not come earlier if you were in such haste? Why are you waking up so late? The Commonwealth Games were announced ten years ago. You could have come earlier. You cannot expect a miracle at the last moment.”

In its previous orders, the court had asked all the agencies to register all the workers and ensure minimum wages, safety equipment, and insurance and medical benefits are provided to them. The government had then told the court that it had asked all the principal employers to provide information about their workers.

The matter, since then, has been getting delayed due to various reasons. The court has now posted the matter for May 26.