The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed the State government to provide details of labourers registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice B.V. Nagarathna issued oral direction while hearing public interest litigation petitions — one initiated suo motu by the court on an instance of death of a construction worker due to electrocution when he came into contact with a live high tension wire in Bangalore last year; and another seeking steps for effective implementation of welfare measures provided for the labourers in the Act.
During the hearing, it was pointed out that though about 20 lakh labourers are engaged in building and other construction works in the State, only 20 per cent had been registered under the Act.
Following this, the Bench asked the authorities to submit data on registration of construction workers and an action plan to ensure that majority of the construction workers were registered as per the law so that they would be eligible to receive welfare schemes. The bench will hear the petitions again on October 21.
