Process to recover 1% cess on construction projects that have come up from 2009 onwards set in motion
MARGAO
Why has the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board suddenly waken up from the slumber to recover the one per cent labour cess on construction projects that have come up across the villages since 2009?
Is the Board eyeing on whopping Rs 250-300 crore revenue via the one per cent labour cess on construction projects dotting the villages since the 10-12 years? Or, has the Board’s initiative come after auditors sounded loss of revenue running into crores of rupees?
These and other questions may remain unanswered. But, while the huge revenue is expected to enrich the Board coffers by crores of rupees, house owners, however, find themselves in a tight spot as the Board and the village panchayats have set in motion the process to recover the cess since 2009.
In fact, close on the heels of the village panchayat issuing notices for recovery of one per cent labour cess, the Board has now started sending notices on house owners and builders after owners replied back to the panchayats over their inability to pay the one per cent labour cess.
As the Board has kicked off the exercise as per the government order dated December 29, 2008, many a house owner have received notices from the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board to pay the cess or face action.
As the Board has set in motion the exercise to recover the cess from the owners of individual houses and multi-storied buildings, Board officials in the know have pegged the estimated revenue due to the Board from the labour cess to around Rs 250-300 crore. An official further went on to say that the estimated revenue has been computed based on audit reports, but sources in the know say the actual revenue may go beyond the projected figure of Rs 300 crore.
The Goan understands that villages with urban characteristics, including villages dotting along the coastal belt and villages such as Sancoale and Old Goa, which has witnessed a rapid growth in housing over the decade, have come under the radar of Welfare Board.
In fact, officials pointed out that the Board expects to earn an estimated revenue of around Rs 100 crore from the villages along the coastal belt and the urban villages in Mormugao and Tiswadi.
A senior Board official pointed out that the Board would first bring the housing complexes and commercial complexes under the radar before targetting the individual households to recover the one per cess on construction projects.
That the Board has conveyed a message loud and clear that it means business in recovering the one per cent cess became clear when the Board Secretary Raju Gawas has started sending notices on the house owners and builders.
A mystery? Welfare board, p'yat bodies failed to collect cess since Jan 2009
MARGAO: What had prevented the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and the Panchayat bodies from recovering the one per cent cess on the construction projects when the government had issued the order way back on December 29, 2008?
It remains a mystery why the Board or the panchayat bodies did not collect the one per cent labour cess on construction projects when the order had come into force from January 1, 2009.
Though the order had come into force from January 1, 2009, the cess was never collected by the Board or the Panchayat bodies, while the Municipal bodies had implemented the order from the date when the order had come into force.
Incumbent Board officials have no idea why successive Secretaries of the Board did not get the panchayat bodies collect the one per cent cess from the house constructions when the Municipalities have been regular in collecting the cess.
Board willing to provide installment facility: Welfare board secy
MARGAO: Labour Commissioner, Raju Gawas, who is also the Secretary of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, has said the Board is willing to give installment facility to the house owners who are unable to pay the one per cent cess. “Let the house owners seek installment facility to make the payments and we will examine the proposal. So far, the Board has not received any such application from the house and construction owners seeking installment facility to pay the cess amount,” he said.
Gawas said the Board can go for recovery of the cess as per the rules laid down in the government. “So far, the Board has not charged any penalty or interest on the house owners,” he added.
Govt cannot punish people for its failure to collect cess: Ex-Ambelim sarpanch
MARGAO: Former Ambelim Sarpanch and Aam Aadmi Party leader Cruz Silva has said the government cannot punish the people for its failure to collect the one per cent cess at the time of issuing the construction licence.
“There may be hundreds, if not thousands of house owners who may not be in a position to pay the cess now in view of the Covid-pandemic. Hundreds of seafarers are at home without jobs with the shipping operations down. Business too is yet to pick up and the employment scenario is still fluid. In this situation, the Board and the government should not have started the recovery process,” Cruz said.
He added: “Since the cess amount runs into thousands of rupees, the government should intervene and come out with an installment facility or one-time settlement for the house owners.”
