The construction industry is an important driver of the economy. Workers at sites, however, don’t seem to have a share in the prosperity they help generate. Arriving as migrants from rural areas, they cling on to employment in dismal conditions. For want of safety measures, accidents happen all the time. Entire families stick it out in unsanitary conditions. Children don’t get a chance to go to school.
A measure of the neglect shown to construction workers is the poor utilization of a fund created precisely for their welfare. Over 25 years, more than Rs 78,000 crore has been collected nationally by way of a one percent cess on big projects, but more than Rs 47,000 crore of it has not been spent.