New Delhi, May 12: The Supreme Court today wondered why the government was drawing up social welfare laws by the dozen if it was not interested in implementing them.

“What’s the point of drawing up such legislations? You want international recognition that we have such beautiful laws?” a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan observed.

It was referring to laws like the Juvenile Justice Act, the Domestic Violence Act and the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by an NGO seeking implementation of a 12-year-old law enacted for the benefit of construction workers.

The apex court directed state labour secretaries to file a compliance report on implementing the laws and posted the matter for hearing in August.

Two laws were enacted in 1996, the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Service Act) and the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act.

These enable states to levy a cess of one per cent of the construction cost incurred by an employer and use it for education, health and safety of workers and their families.

According to the law, the workers would first be identified by the state governments and given mandatory identity cards. This would facilitate eventual disbursement of the cess.