Rs 32-cr dormitories for workers lying idle

CHENNAI: The two dormitories constructed by the State Labour department at a cost of Rs 31.66 crore to accommodate construction workers are lying idle, resulting in wasteful expenditure, said the CAG report.

The State government accorded administrative sanction in December 2014 for the construction of nine dormitories at Rs 106 crore. The government gave its nod to utilise the welfare fund of the TN Construction Workers Welfare Board to provide temporary accommodation to construction workers.

Of these, the labour department completed the construction of the dormitories at Ezhichur village in March 2017. The facility in Thaiyur ‘B’ village was completed in February 2018. Each facility accommodates 1,000 workers.

The audit found that from July to October 2019, the dormitory at Ezhichur was utilised to accommodate six to 49 workers on a few occasions. As of October 2021, the dormitory has remained unoccupied since November 2019. The dormitory at Thaiyur ‘B’ village was temporarily used to accommodate 245 workers of the Koyambedu vegetable market for one week between May 7 and 20, 2020. It has been lying completely unoccupied since the COVID-19 pandemic, the CAG report said.

It recommended the government to make use of the facility to accommodate workers from other sectors as well on a payment basis.