The Gujarat government on Wednesday, on the third and last day of the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly, tabled the CAG performance audit report on the Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) for the period ended March 2022.The audit reported a wide range of problems in the implementation of the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996.The CAG report found that for five years, between 2017 and 2022, the state government had run the 15-member State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board with just a single person — Principal Secretary, Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department — as a chairman appointed to it, without representatives of the employers and the workers as of March 2022. As a result, no meetings have been held since November 2017.Similarly, the state government had not constituted the 15-member State Advisory Committee (SAC) since 2011. Details of the SAC meetings held between July 2008 and June 2011 were also not made available to the Audit.The Audit further observed that the Board had not constituted the Welfare Fund in absence of which cess collected by the cess collectors in the state is deposited in the government account.As of March 2022, the state government had sanctioned (between 2007 and 2020) 58 posts of various cadres of board functionaries. As of March 2022, 13 of 18 regular posts (72%) and 15 of 40 temporary posts (38%) were vacant.Further, the audit observed 100% shortage in the cadre of Senior Inspector and 30% shortage in the cadre of Inspector with regard to four SI posts and 24 posts of Inspector.Story continues below this adThe audit said, “The request for filling of vacant posts was submitted to the Government after more than five years from the date of vacancy.”Only 13% of 55,568 establishments registeredThe BOCW Act, 1996, applies to every establishment which employs, or had employed on any day of the preceding 12 months, 10 or more building workers in any building and other construction work.As per information furnished by the DISH, during calendar years 2017-22, 14,295 establishments were registered with the Directorate in the state.Out of 14,295 registered establishments, 7,385 (52%) were registered in five districts whereas remaining 6,910 establishments (48%) were registered in the remaining 28 districts. Further, no establishment was registered in two districts (Mahisagar and Narmada). But 153 construction works were executed by them during 2017-22. This clearly demonstrates that all eligible establishments were not registered with DISH.Story continues below this adFurther, as against 55,568 Development Permissions (DPs) granted by the five municipal corporations and their urban development authority in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Gandhinagar, only 7,385 (13%) establishments had been registered, with the worst being Vadodara at 6% followed by Surat at 8%.Further, the audit report said that the state neither has a Geographic Information System (GIS) for regular monitoring of construction activities, nor an efficient mechanism to establish linkage between the registering officer and authorities granting permission for BOC works and issuing work orders. which could have ensured registration of all eligible establishments.The audit further found that 426 out of 7,385 registered establishments had submitted applications for registration after lapse of more than two years from the due date, which is 60 days. But no action had been taken against the employer for delayed submission. The DISH blamed “lack of awareness” among employers as the reason.Estimated 15 lakh workers, only 1.57 lakh registeredThe BOCW Act, 1996, provides that every BOC worker, who has completed 18 years of age but has not turned 60, and who has been engaged in any BOC work for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months shall be eligible for registration as a beneficiary.Story continues below this adSince June 2021, all applications are being processed through e-nirman portal and identity cards (e-nirman card) are issued to the registered workers with the approval of the Nirikshak of the district concerned. For making an application through e-nirman portal, an applicant is required to upload the documents prescribed by the Board. Validity of registration in pre- and post-launching of e-nirman portal was three years from the date of registration. After expiry of validity, the workers are required to get the validity of registration renewed through the e-nirman portal. On renewal of validity, a renewed e-nirman card with extended validity is issued to the registered worker.During 2017-22, 3% to 16% of workers whose registration was due for renewal got the procedure done. Further, in all the years except 2017-18, the number of workers whose registration expired or got inactivated was more than the number of workers registered during the year. The number of active registered workers at the end of each year during 2017-22 showed a decreasing trend. The number of active registered workers, which stood at 4,67,682 in March 2018, slumped to 1,56,955 in March 2022.The Member Secretary of the Board stated in August 2023 that the responsibility of renewal of registration rests with the registered workers.The audit pointed out that a committee of secretaries of various administrative departments of the state government, constituted under the chairpersonship of the Chief Minister for recommending relief/welfare measures amid Covid-19, estimated the existence of around 15 lakh BOC workers in the state.Story continues below this adThe committee suggested conducting a state-level survey of BOC workers. Audit observed that neither the measures suggested in the Action plan were implemented nor the survey recommended by the Committee was conducted by the Board as of July 2023. Against an estimation of 15 lakh, active registration of 1.57 lakh BOC workers indicates that a large number of them are yet to be registered in the state.Safety, health and welfare measuresAccording to the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), fatal incidents occurred at 280 worksites, causing loss of life to 313 workers during calendar years 2017-22. Scrutiny of 50 case files of fatal incidents (10 cases in each of the five selected districts), revealed that death of workers occurred due to fall from height, falling of structure/objects on workers, breaking of mechanical lifts, electrocution etc. This indicates omissions in compliance with safety rules at construction sites.Joint field visits of the 50 selected construction sites revealed several deficiencies in compliance with norms.In terms of safety, no overhead protection was seen in 66% cases while in 60% cases, there was no provision for eye protection. While 28% had no head protection, 64% had no firefighting equipment.Story continues below this adIn terms of health, no ambulance room was present in 88% cases and no stretchers in 82% cases. There were no life-saving appliances in 80% cases while 22% did not have first-aid boxes. Further, there was no living accommodation in 38% cases. In 42% cases, there was no provision for washrooms or urinals.