Distinction between Board constitution and worker registration

clarifies that while the establishment of a State Welfare Board under Section 18 of the BOCW Act is indispensable for activating the cess collection machinery, the actual registration of construction workers as beneficiaries or the immediate rollout of welfare schemes is not a prerequisite for imposing the levy. Once the Cess Act and the rules framed thereunder are operative in a State and the Welfare Board has been formally constituted, authorities are duty-bound to collect the prescribed cess by raising statutory demands on all ongoing construction projects. The tasks of registering workers under Section 12 of the BOCW Act and administering welfare funds take substantial administrative time, and delaying the levy until every worker is registered would frustrate the core legislative intent of providing prompt social security to construction labour. Thus, liability to pay cess attaches upon the operationalization of the Board, independent of whether individual workers have completed registration. (Prakash Atlanta (JV) Vs National Highways Authority of India | 2026 INSC 76).