The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board was so committed to welfare that it bounced its own disbursement cheques due to insufficient balance in the account the cess was supposed to fill.
The CAG's performance audit of Manipur's Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board found that of ₹101.15 crore collected as labour cess — a tax earmarked exclusively for construction worker welfare — ₹37.54 crore never reached the welfare board at all, sitting idle in government accounts while the board ran short. When the board did try to disburse, 73 cheques worth ₹16.08 crore were dishonoured due to 'insufficient balance or signature mismatch' in the very account the cess was supposed to fund. There were also 433 registered beneficiaries with completely identical personal details — same name, same address, same everything — each holding multiple registration numbers. Manipur had 12 years between the 1996 welfare law and the 2008 rules framing it. It took another decade to collect the money, then didn't transfer a third of it, then bounced the cheques on the third that was transferred.