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PIL in high court: Centre objects to Punjab using welfare board funds for women cash dole scheme
Union labour ministry’s affidavit terms the move a prima facie “impermissible diversion” of a dedicated labour-welfare corpus
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The Union labour ministry on Friday, in an affidavit filed before the Punjab and Haryana high court, objected to the Punjab government’s decision to use the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Welfare Fund to finance cash assistance under the “Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana” for registered women construction workers.
Under the scheme, notified by the Punjab government in April, women above 18 years of age from the general category receive ₹1,000 per month, while women belonging to Scheduled Castes receive ₹1,500. The assistance is transferred directly into the beneficiaries’ bank accounts.
The ministry termed the move a prima facie “impermissible diversion” of a dedicated labour-welfare corpus.
The reply was filed in the ongoing PIL challenging the diversion of BOCW funds. The Union ministry said the women-centric scheme was meant for the general population of Punjab and did not fall within the statutory functions of the BOCW welfare board.
“The purported extension of the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana … to beneficiaries connected with building workers, by incurring its expenditure to the BOCW Welfare Fund, prima facie amounts to an impermissible diversion of a dedicated labour-welfare corpus for financing a general state welfare scheme,” the affidavit said.
The bench of chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra deferred the hearing to October 30. Lawyers associated with the case said an interim order against transfer of funds from the corpus had been extended. The detailed order is awaited.
The affidavit states that the scheme “is neither specifically framed for the welfare of building workers or their beneficiaries nor a measure falling within the statutory functions of the BOCW Welfare Board.”
“…its implementation through, or financing from, the BOCW Welfare Fund may not be justified as a welfare measure falling within the functions of the board,” it added.
The Union ministry has also invoked Section 7(6) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, arguing that “the state government lacks statutory authority to formulate/adopt an additional welfare scheme for building-worker beneficiaries and to charge the expenditure thereof to the BOCW welfare fund,” the affidavit added.
The PIL, filed by the Dr Ambedkar Workers Union, challenged the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board’s decision to adopt the state’s flagship women welfare scheme and transfer funds from the workers’ corpus. The board approved the adoption of the scheme at its June 6 meeting chaired by chief minister Bhagwant Mann in his capacity as ex-officio chairman.
