NEW DELHI (INDIA): Payment of construction workers’ statutory dues is the responsibility of the principal employer and not that of contractors, said a top government official.
Labour Secretary M Sathiyavathy today clarified that payment of workers’ statutory dues in the construction sector is the sole responsibility of the principal employer.
Addressing 42nd Annual Day celebrations of MES Builders Association of India, Sathiyavathy categorically said social security amenities such as pension and provident fund contribution of construction workers should be paid off by principal employers and not by their contractors.
In a statement, she, however, added that unless responsibility for payment of such dues is specified and clearly stated in the contract agreement between principal employers and contractors, pension and provident fund contributions should be paid by the principal employers.
She also stated that if confusion still prevails on these issues, there should be separate consultations with the stakeholders as the government is committed to implementing the social security schemes.
“This is so because workers in particular and construction workers in general lack social security at times when the issue of social security is well established in all economies of scale. The government is also making sure all payments of the wages to workers should be done by crossed cheque and digital mode for which no excuses would be entertained,” she said in the statement.
Those who spoke on the occasion included Central Provident Fund Commissioner V P Joy and Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner Krishan Taneja.
Source: Press Trust of India