Eligibility conditions for availing benefits under the Building and Other Construction Workers scheme- (Press Information Bureau) (27 Jul 2023)

MANU/PIBU/2312/2023

Civil

As per the extant provisions of Section 12 of Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 [BOCW (RE&CS) Act, 1996], which is in force, it is inter-alia, mentioned that every building worker who has completed eighteen years of age, but has not completed sixty years of age, and who has been engaged in any building or other construction for not less that ninety days during the preceding twelve months shall be eligible for registration as a beneficiary in the State Welfare Boards under this Act and the same provisions for the Act continue.

Further, it is imperative for every building and other construction worker to fulfil the extant conditions to register as BOC Workers as well as renewal of registration to continue as a beneficiary without any differentiation.

Central Government had sent a Model Welfare Scheme for Building and Other Construction Workers and Action Plan for strengthening Implementation Machinery to all States/UTs, wherein, inter-alia, the State / UT Governments through their State/UT BOCW Welfare Boards were advised to ensure that the domicile status of a worker should not prevent the worker from getting registered outside his/her state of origin.

It was further advised that in order to facilitate registration of BOC migrant workers under the BOCW (RE&CS) Act, 1996, creation of facilitation centres/help desks should be there to help BOC workers, conducting of special drive with focus on migrant BOC workers and to ensure no discrimination be faced by them in terms of registration and delivery of benefits.

In order to simplify the registration/enrolment process, detailed provisions were given as Machinery for Registration of workers in the aforesaid Model Welfare Scheme, by way of allotting Unique Identification Number to the registered BOC workers, delegation/appointment of competent officers at local/municipal/panchayat level, allowing self-certification, holding regular camps / creation of facilitation centers at prominent labour chowks/addas, issuance of ID cards to BOC workers etc.

Moreover, Central Government, by way of invoking Section 60 of BOCW (RE&CS) Act, 1996 had advised all the States/UT Governments to ensure that all the left-out BOC workers are registered with the State Welfare Boards and their records updated in a time bound manner which relies on easing out the process of registration, doing away with the physical presence of workers for registration and renewals, reposing trust on workers by self-certification and giving due benefits to all eligible construction workers in terms of universal social security and welfare schemes of the Central/State Governments like Health Insurance Scheme through PM-JAY (Ayushman Bharat), Life and Disability Cover through PM-Jivan Jyoti Beema Yojana, PM-Suraksha Beema Yojana and Life-long Pension after 60 years through PM-Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana and subsistence allowance during unemployment, illness, epidemics, natural calamities by optimally utilizing cess fund for the welfare of BOC workers.

Tags : ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS BENEFITS SCHEME