By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, OCT 17, 2017: The Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, has expressed serious concern over the living conditions of large number of construction workers and urged the builders to ensure dignified living for them by ensuring necessary basic facilities. He spoke on the issue after releasing a commemorative stamp on the occasion of the 25 years of Indian Builders Congress (IBC) here today.

Mr Puri reminded the 5,100 members of the IBC that it was their solemn responsibility to ensure decent living conditions with facilities for cooking, bathing and toilets for workers at construction sites under Clause 19 H of General Contract Conditions and Contract Labour (Regulation) Act. The Minister said this was not being generally complied with which is not acceptable. The Minister asserted that construction workers make yeomen contribution to economic growth of the country and deserve to be treated with dignity.

Noting that the IBC aims at improving the built environment, Mr Puri said that the living environment of workers at construction sites is equally important.

Mr Puri said that the real estate sector kept evolving with the progress of economic reforms and the resultant economic growth, but had run into hurdles due to inadequate self-regulation and lack of regulatory mechanism. This has necessitated the Real Estate Act that was made a reality by this Government last year after eight long years it was first proposed. Mr Puri asserted that the real estate sector is finding the going bumpy but will soon settle at a new normal as all the stakeholders are working at enabling such a new normal.