Labour Card (BOCW Welfare Board Registration) in Assam — Nirman Sakhi

What is a labour card in Assam and who issues it?

A labour card in Assam is beneficiary registration with the Assam Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board (ABOCWWB), a tripartite body constituted by the Government of Assam vide Notification No. GLR(RC)135/2007/22 dated 12 February 2008 under Section 18 of the Building and Other Construction Workers' (RE&CS) Act, 1996. The Board sits under the Labour Welfare Department, and the Labour Commissioner of Assam is its Member Secretary.

Since the launch of Nirman Sakhi, the Board's Aadhaar-authenticated online portal built with the National Informatics Centre, registration in Assam runs through one address only. The Board says so explicitly in its FAQ: Nirman Sakhi at www.abocwwb.assam.gov.in is now the only portal of ABOCWWB, and the previous portal has been discontinued. New registration, onboarding of existing members, and membership renewal are live; cess collection, benefit claim and disbursement modules are being added in later phases.

Assam's Board is large. It states on the Nirman Sakhi homepage that more than 7 lakh building and construction workers are registered as beneficiaries, and that it administers 13 welfare schemes, of which 12 are ongoing and one was a one-time scheme, under Section 22(a) to 22(h) of the BOCW Act.

Who is eligible for an Assam labour card and who cannot apply?

You can apply if:

• You are between 18 and 55 years of age, calculated as on the date of registration. Note this: Assam's upper limit is 55, not the 60 used by several other states.
• You have been engaged for at least 90 days in construction-related work in the last 12 months.
• You hold an Aadhaar number with an active mobile number linked to it, because the portal does Aadhaar eKYC by OTP.
• You are registered on eShram and have a valid eShram UAN.
• You are a worker from another state whose present address or work location is in Assam. The Board's criteria page allows this explicitly, which matters for migrant workers on Assam sites.

You cannot apply if:

• You are under 18 or over 55 on the date of application.
• You cannot establish 90 days of construction work in the last 12 months through the Board's certificate format.
• You have no eShram UAN. The Board's FAQ is blunt that eShram registration must come first; there is no waiver.
• You are already a beneficiary of another welfare scheme of this kind, which the eligibility criteria exclude.
• You are trying to register a second time on the same Aadhaar: one Aadhaar allows only one registration, though up to four registrations may share one mobile number.

What documents does Assam ask for?

The Board's new-registration criteria page lists the set precisely:

• 90-day work experience certificate, in the format the Board publishes for download on the portal. More than one certificate can be combined to make up the 90 days.
• Aadhaar-linked bank passbook, statement or cancelled cheque.
• Present address proof; only if it differs from the Aadhaar address: driving licence, voter ID, ration card, bank passbook, electricity bill, or the 90-day work certificate itself.
• eShram card and Aadhaar card, for entering the numbers correctly. Neither is uploaded.

Workers already registered under the old system need a longer set to onboard: the existing ABOCWWB ID card, present address proof, bank details, the worker service record book, and the subscription fee book.

How to apply for a labour card in Assam

1. Register on eShram first at eshram.gov.in if you do not already have a UAN. Nothing on Nirman Sakhi proceeds without it.
2. Get your 90-day work experience certificate in the Board's own format, downloadable from the portal. If your employer refuses, the Board accepts a certificate from a registered BOC or construction workers' union, a Panchayat Executive Officer, the local municipality, a Labour Officer or a Labour Inspector.
3. Open the Nirman Sakhi portal at abocwwb.assam.gov.in and choose New Registration under Construction Worker. Read the eligibility screen, tick the terms and conditions, and click Proceed to New Registration. Workers who cannot manage this alone should go to the nearest Public Facilitation Centre (PFC) instead. The list is on the portal and on sewasetu.assam.gov.in.
4. Complete Aadhaar eKYC using the OTP sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number, then fill in personal, employment and bank details, and select the office under your district for registration.
5. Upload the documents, the 90-day certificate, bank passbook and, if required, present address proof.
6. Pay the registration fee of Rs 25, a one-time non-refundable charge the Board states in its FAQ, and start the Rs 20 per month subscription. Subscription must be paid for at least 3 months at a time and can be paid up to 24 months in advance.
7. Save the acknowledgement number in the format ABOCW/123/2024/REG/00000008 and track the application in the Track Application box on the portal. The Board sends an SMS when the application is approved or rejected. Its notice on the portal states that applications are processed on a first-come-first-served basis.

Assam's own guidance under the Assam BOCW Rules describes the paper equivalent of this flow: application in Form XXVI with nomination in Form XXVII, document verification, deposit of the registration fee with three months' membership contribution in advance, and issue of a registration card in Form XXXI.

How do I renew an Assam labour card?

The ID card generated from Nirman Sakhi is valid for two years from the date of issuance, and the Board's FAQ says the card must be renewed every two years. Renewal needs the worker service record book, and no registration fee applies to renewal or onboarding — only the continuing Rs 20 monthly subscription.

Existing members carry an extra step. A worker registered under the old system must onboard onto Nirman Sakhi through Aadhaar authentication and eShram validation before renewal is possible. If your membership has already expired but you still meet the eligibility criteria, the Board says to apply as a new registration, or visit the nearest labour welfare office for guidance.

What can I claim with an Assam labour card?

The Board lists 13 schemes on the Nirman Sakhi portal, covering death benefit, funeral assistance, general pension, family pension, disability pension, transit shelter, cash award, medical assistance, maternity assistance, skill development training and marriage assistance. The Board publishes year-wise lists of disbursed benefits and of benefits returned for 2022 through 2026, which is a useful check on whether payments are actually reaching workers in your district.

One current condition is worth knowing: the Board has issued a notification requiring a PMJAY non-availment certificate along with an undertaking for medical benefit claims, so a worker claiming medical assistance should not assume the old paperwork is enough.

Why do Assam applications get rejected?

• No eShram UAN, or a UAN whose details do not match Aadhaar.
• Aadhaar not linked to a working mobile number, which stops eKYC dead. The Board advises visiting an Aadhaar Sewa Kendra to link it; biometric authentication is planned but not yet available.
• A 90-day certificate not in the Board's format, or issued by someone outside the permitted list.
• Age outside 18 to 55 on the date of application.
• A duplicate application on the same Aadhaar, the portal allows only one registration per Aadhaar.
• Bank details that do not match the passbook, which passes registration but blocks payment later.

Is the Assam labour card free, and should I pay an agent?

Assam does charge, and the amounts are published: Rs 25 once to register, and Rs 20 per month as subscription. That is the whole government cost. The Board also ran free-of-cost form fill-up at PFCs for an initial period; after that window, workers bear the PFC service cost, which is a small notified charge: not a negotiable "fee" set by whoever is at the counter.

Private agents who quote several hundred or a few thousand rupees for an Assam labour card are charging for a form that a worker can complete on abocwwb.assam.gov.in themselves, or at a PFC, using an eShram number they can get free. Before paying anything, call the Board's helpdesk on 1800-345-3574 (8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, seven days a week) and confirm what is actually payable.

Where do I complain if my Assam application is stuck?

Call the helpdesk on 1800-345-3574 with your acknowledgement number first. The Board also has a Grievance Registration module on the Nirman Sakhi portal, though parts of the portal have shown an "under maintenance" state during the phased rollout, so the helpline is the reliable route.

Beyond that, the registering office you selected in your district, the district labour welfare office, and the Labour Commissioner, Assam, who is Member Secretary of the ABOCWWB; are the escalation levels. The Commissionerate of Labour publishes its contact addresses at labourcommissioner.assam.gov.in, including labour.commissioner@assam.gov.in. Keep the acknowledgement number, the fee receipt and a copy of the 90-day certificate; almost every dispute at this stage turns on the certificate.