SC summons Delhi, NCR states’ Chief Secretaries over failure to pay compensation to workers

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday summoned Chief Secretaries of Delhi and the adjoining NCR states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan over failure to pay subsistence allowance to construction workers when construction activities have been paused under the GRAP-IV regulations.

A Bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and A.G. Masih was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) relating to the control of pollution in Delhi and the adjoining NCR area.

The Justice Oka-led Bench said that the chief secretaries of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan will remain present before the apex court on December 5 at 3:30 P.M.

In the meantime, it granted liberty to state governments to place on record their affidavits relating to release of compensation to construction workers.

“We are not telling them to remain here physically, they can appear through video-conferencing so that all the states understand the seriousness of the issue. When we summon the top officers of the state, then only the ball starts rolling” remarked the apex court.

When the counsel representing the Rajasthan government contended that the amount has been allocated to each district, the top court said that it expected at least one of the state governments to pay subsistence allowance to a “sizeable amount” of construction workers by now.

It cautioned that unless substantial compliance with actual payment of amounts to the construction workers is reported, it will have to consider initiating contempt action against the erring officials.

In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi and NCR governments to use the funds which have been collected as labour cess for the welfare of the construction workers by providing them weekly subsistence allowance for the period during which the construction activities are prohibited.

“The Commission (Commission for Air Quality Management) has all the powers under Section 12(1) of the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 to issue directions to various Authorities to take several measures to ensure that the persons in the category of labourers, daily wagers, economically weaker sections, etc., do not suffer. We, therefore, direct the Commission to immediately consider the issue of taking mitigating measures by issuing necessary directions,” it had ordered.

The top court had also ordered the Commission to immediately initiate action against the defaulting officers and entities over the lackadaisical implementation of Stage IV of the GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) in Delhi-NCR.

It had said that unless the apex court was satisfied that there was a consistent downward trend of the Air Quality Index (AQI), it could not permit the relaxation of Stage IV norms.

IANS