Real estate business has made the people lazy and corrupt, said journalist M G Prabhakar.

He was speaking at the First Convention of Construction Workers organised under the aegis of CITU in Kolar city on Sunday.

Today, the real estate business has made the workers lazy but has also created a vicious political scenario, challenging the base of democratic set up, he critiqued. Voters who sell their invaluable right to vote have thus rendered the freedom bought to us by Gandhiji and numerous other freedom fighters meaningless.

The people should not get lured by the bribe offered by the politicians. How can corruption be prevented by those who come to power by buying people’s votes? Thus, the construction workers can attain their rights only by being united among themselves and not by selling their votes to greedy politicians, observed Mr Prabhakar.

There seems to be no value to the lives of the construction workers these days. However, the lives of these workers can be made better by organising them and creating unity among the workers. Moreover, the workers should awake to their rights, he added. Thus, the construction workers who are nearly 25,000 in number in the district should avail themselves of the facilities provided by the government for their benefit, informed Mr Prabhakar.

The government has instituted Construction Workers’ Welfare Board in Bangalore and the workers can utilise various schemes provided by the government. Also, women construction workers who are 50 yrs  and men who are 60 yrs will be given Rs 300 as monthly pension till their death. Thus, the workers should enroll themselves as the boardmembers, said retired Labour Welfare Officer Krishnappa.