Nirman Shramik Auzaar (Toolkit) Sahayata Yojana — Grant for Purchase of Tools

What is Nirman Shramik Auzaar Sahayata Yojana?

Nirman Shramik Auzaar Sahayata Yojana is the tool-purchase benefit of the Bihar Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (BBOCWWB), listed on the board's own portal as Grant for purchase of tools and in Hindi as औजार क्रय योजना. The board works under the Labour Resources and Migrant Workers Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, and is constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.

According to the scheme details published on bocwboard.bihar.gov.in, a registered worker is "provided with tools worth up to Rs 15,000 related to the training completed by the applicant". Two conditions are attached: minimum one year of membership of the board, and training for skill upgradation.

The logic of the scheme is straightforward. A mason who has been trained in shuttering carpentry earns more only if he owns the saw, the clamps and the measuring tools that the trade needs. A trained bar bender without a cutter still works as a helper. The board therefore ties the grant to the training: the tools sanctioned must be the tools of the trade the worker has just learned, not a general shopping allowance.

Main features

• Tools worth up to Rs 15,000, linked to the completed training.
• One year of membership of the board is the minimum.
• Skill-upgradation training is a condition, not an optional extra.
• Claim filed online within 3 months of purchase.
• Once in a lifetime, no repeat claim.

Who is eligible for the toolkit grant?

You can claim if:

• You are registered with the Bihar BOCW Board and hold a labour card that is live, with the annual contribution paid.
• Your membership is at least one year old on the date of the claim.
• You have completed skill-upgradation training, and hold the certificate. The board's own Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme trains registered workers by trade: bar bending, masonry, shuttering carpentry, plumbing and related trades, and a certificate from such training is the natural document for this claim.
• The tools you bought relate to that training. This is written into the benefit description and is the point at which most weak claims fail.
• You have a bank account in your own name that is Aadhaar-seeded.

You are not eligible and cannot claim if:

• You are not registered with the board, or your card has lapsed. There is no route to any board benefit for an unregistered worker, and registration cannot be backdated to cover a purchase already made.
• Your membership is under one year on the date of the claim.
• You have not undergone skill-upgradation training. Long experience on site is not a substitute for the certificate here, though the RPL route exists precisely to certify experienced workers.
• The tools are unrelated to the training — for example a plumbing kit claimed against a masonry certificate.
• You already drew this benefit once. The board states it is a once-in-a-lifetime assistance.
• You bought the tools more than three months before filing.
• You are an employer or contractor rather than a construction worker.

How much does the scheme give?

The ceiling is Rs 15,000, and the wording is "tools worth up to Rs 15,000". The figure is a maximum, not a fixed grant: a claim supported by a bill for Rs 6,400 of tools is settled at that value, not at the ceiling.

Placed next to the board's other in-kind benefits, the pattern is clear. The Grant for purchase of bicycle reimburses the lesser of Rs 3,500 or the amount on the bicycle bill. The Grant for the repair of house is capped at Rs 20,000. All three are one-time, bill-based benefits meant to put a durable asset in the worker's hands rather than to supplement income.

One interaction is worth planning around. The board's note under the house repair grant says that a worker who has previously received benefit under the building construction, bicycle or tools scheme is not eligible for the house repair grant. A worker who wants the Rs 20,000 repair grant should therefore think carefully before drawing the Rs 15,000 toolkit, and vice versa. Ask the Labour Enforcement Officer to confirm how the exclusion is being applied in your district before you spend money on either.

What documents are required?

Buy from a seller who will give a proper dated bill with the shop's details. A handwritten slip without a date is the commonest documentary failure in bill-based board schemes.

How to apply for the Auzaar Sahayata Yojana

1. Complete the training first. Enrol through the board or the district labour office for skill-upgradation training in your trade, finish the course, and collect the certificate.
2. Buy the tools that belong to that trade, and take a dated bill in your own name. Do not delay the next step: the claim window is three months from this date.
3. Open bocwboard.bihar.gov.in and log in through the worker login with your registration number and the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
4. Confirm from your profile that your membership is at least one year old and the contribution is paid. Renew on bocwscheme.bihar.gov.in first if the card has lapsed.
5. Open the Schemes list and select Grant for purchase of tools (औजार क्रय योजना).
6. Fill the claim form and upload the training certificate, the purchase bill, your Aadhaar, bank passbook page and photograph.
7. Submit the claim and save the application reference number shown on screen.
8. The Labour Enforcement Officer verifies the membership, the training and the bill, after which the board sanctions the assistance and it is settled to your bank account by DBT.

Workers who cannot file online should take the same set of papers to the District Labour Office or the office of the Labour Enforcement Officer and ask for the claim to be entered on the portal. A Common Service Centre can also do the data entry; its charge is a private service fee, since the board takes no fee for a scheme claim.

How to check the status of your toolkit claim

1. Log in to bocwboard.bihar.gov.in with your registration number and OTP.
2. Open the scheme application status section and read the stage shown against your reference number.
3. Follow up with the Labour Enforcement Officer if the file sits at verification for more than a few weeks.
4. Call the board's toll-free number 1800-296-5656 with your registration number if the status does not move at all.
5. Check the bank passbook for the credit once the status shows sanctioned.

Why toolkit claims get rejected

• No training certificate, or a certificate for a trade different from the tools bought.
• Membership under one year, or a lapsed labour card on the date of claim.
• Claim filed after three months from the date on the purchase bill.
• Bill without a date, seller details or the worker's name, so the purchase cannot be tied to the applicant.
• Second claim by a worker who has already drawn the benefit once.
• Prior benefit under the bicycle or building construction schemes, where the board applies the cross-scheme exclusion.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, or held jointly, so the DBT credit fails.
• Name mismatch between the labour card, Aadhaar and the bank record.

Where to get help

• Toll-free helpline of the Bihar BOCW Board: 1800-296-5656
• Email: bocw.bihar@gov.in
• Board office: C Wing, Fourth Floor, Niyojan Bhawan, near Income Tax Golambar, Patna 800001
• Labour Enforcement Officer of your area: verification and first-level grievance
• District Labour Office: escalation above the Labour Enforcement Officer
• Grievance link on bocwboard.bihar.gov.in for written complaints

Registering with the board once opens the whole set of benefits: pension, death benefit, medical and cloth assistance, education and marriage assistance, the bicycle grant and this toolkit grant. The tools grant is the one that most directly raises what a worker can earn the next morning, which is why the board attaches it to training rather than to seniority.