New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan to compensate construction workers affected by work stoppages due to pollution-related restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR. The court clarified that compensation must be paid even in the absence of a specific order, ensuring workers do not suffer financial hardship due to environmental curbs.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that payments should be made from labour cess funds, following previous orders issued on November 24, 2021. The court emphasized that whenever construction activities are halted due to air pollution measures, states must automatically compensate workers without waiting for further judicial directives.
During the hearing on Friday, the Supreme Court was informed that Haryana had already paid compensation to 2,68,759 workers during the first phase of GRAP-4 restrictions and 2,24,881 workers in the second phase. Additionally, 95,000 more workers are set to receive compensation for the January 2025 GRAP-4 period.
