Laws should be implemented: SC judge

Supreme Court judge Tirath S. Thakur on Saturday said that it was not just enough to have laws. “The challenge lies in enforcing these laws and ensuring that they reach the targeted people,” he said at a State-level workshop on ‘Unorganised Workers: Their Aspirations, Management, Future and Law’ held in the city.

“There is no dearth of laws in this country. You must have heard the Prime Minister speak about his resolve to repeal one law a day. By that stand, he is committed to repealing nearly 1,700 laws by the end of his term when he goes to poll again. The challenge is to enforce and implement the existing laws,” he said.

He expressed displeasure that the benefits of schemes under the various laws did not reach the targeted people. “This is the ground reality. The poor people for whom these schemes have been designed are unable to get their benefits,” he said.

On the non-utilisation of funds collected by the Building Construction Workers’ Welfare Boards in various States, the judge said in Karnataka, the board collected Rs. 3,170 crore so far. “Collecting such a huge amount is not for keeping it in a fixed deposit. It should be utilised for the purpose that it has been collected for,” he said.

In Punjab and Haryana, funds to the tune of rs. 170 crore have been collected but the annual expenditure was only Rs. 2 crore.

Another Supreme Court Judge Gopal Gowda came down heavily on the authorities for ignoring the plight of workers in the unorganised sector. Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court D.H. Waghela and judge N.K. Patil also spoke.

The workshop was jointly organised by Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, Department of Labour, Karnatak Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Karnataka State Unorganised Workers Social Security Board, CREDAI, and civil society organisations and workers.

Exclusive women service soon

Labour Commissioner D.S. Vishwanath said that the department would soon launch an exclusive transportation service for women workers in the unorganised sector, especially garment workers.