IIT-B clarifies allegations on non-payment of wages to labourers

A day after state housing minister Jitendra Awhad posted a social media update on the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) not paying construction workers, a fact-finding team from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and police visited IIT-B campus on Wednesday. IIT-B administration also issued a clarification on the issue on Wednesday.

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In the statement, the institute administration said, “The construction projects are being executed by CPWD — a government organisation that follows all GoI rules and regulations. As per the recent GoI scheme of payments through Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA), all bills raised by CPWD are immediately reimbursed by HEFA directly. We clarify that there is no such payments pending at IIT-Bombay. CPWD, through their contractors, ensures timely payment of all workers.”

The institute administration said that during the lockdown, CPWD has been asked to ensure timely payments or ‘kharchi’ and dry rations to all workers. It further added that the institute has also arranged one meal a day for about 250 labourers through Atal Aahar Yojana/ Roti Bank.