In a major setback for the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday stayed the diversion of funds from a construction workers’ welfare corpus to other schemes, including the flagship Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana that promises a cash dole to nearly one crore women of the state.
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Launched on July 1, the scheme, introduced with eye on the upcoming assembly polls, provides for financial assistance of ₹1,000 a month to eligible women of the general category and ₹1,500 per month to those from the Scheduled Caste category.
“”The high court has stayed diversion of funds for any scheme from this (workers’ welfare) fund, including Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojana,” advocate HC Arora, who represented the petitioners, said after the hearing on Thursday, adding that the court has sought response from the Centre and state by the adjourned date. The detailed order is awaited.
In his budget speech on March 8, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the state government had earmarked ₹9,300 crore for the scheme.
The government credited three months’ assistance in a single instalment, transferring ₹3,000 and ₹4,500, respectively, directly into beneficiaries’ bank accounts on July 1. The government claims 40 lakh women have registered so far and estimated 1.02 crore women aged 18 years and above are eligible to apply.
The petition, filed by Dr Ambedkar Workers Union, a Patiala-based body, had sought stay on fund diversion and further demanded that the diverted money be transferred back to the corpus.
The petition claims that on March 16 the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board was re-constituted by the labour department under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act- 1996. It was this board that took the decision in question. The social security fund is mandated under law by the central government to support construction labourers. It is financed by a cess collected from the construction projects in a particular state.
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According to the petition, the board’s decision was illegal as it has been constituted under the law that stands repealed and merged with the Code on Social Security Act- 2020 that came into effect in November 2025.
“…decisions taken by the newly reconstituted workers’ welfare board, are ipso facto illegal and without jurisdiction.. the said (transfer of funds for the scheme) decision amounts to total misuse of the funds, and is contrary to the Supreme Court judgment that said the funds of the workers’ welfare fund cannot be used for any other purposes except those permitted under the 1996 Act(now Code on Social Security, 2020),” the petition said.
The PIL further alleged that board has not only approved transfer of funds for the scheme in question but in January 2026 reduced the amount of monthly pension payable to the registered construction workers, for whom the fund was meant for. “The board can’t discriminate between male and female registered construction workers but it made certain payments out of the welfare fund only to the registered female construction workers,” the PIL claims.
