After welfare cess meant for workers in six sectors were abolished, workers in the construction and beedi industry too have raised concerns about the impact and uncertainty of GST Bill and have expressed the need to protect the existing cess.
Question of livelihood
“Cess is a fixed source of social security provided for us workers. If they abolish it, there will be a great impact on their work and living conditions, especially in the construction industry which has a large number of workers,” said T.M. Chandran, a construction worker.
Following the repeal of the cess in mica mines, salt, limestone and dolomite, cinema, tobacco, iron ore, manganese and chrome ore industries, workers from both these industries (construction and beedi too) have organised several protests and meetings across the State to urge authorities to protect their welfare schemes.
Need to protect rights
“If this is abolished we need an alternative source of security to make up for the loss,” said B. Nalan, convenor, National Forum for Beedi Workers.
While several aspects of the upcoming provisions remain uncertain and speculative, activists have begun to form committees to protect the workers rights and livelihood. “It came as a shock to us when several cesses were abolished, that too without any prior information,” said R. Geetha, adviser to the Unorganised Workers Federation.
“For years we have fought to ensure that the existing cess meant for these workers are used effectively, now they are just being abolished. While everyone is talking about growth of the nation with the new bill, nobody seems to care about the impact it will have on these workers,” she added.
