Maternity Benefit Scheme for Construction Workers (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu)

What is the Maternity Benefit Scheme for construction workers?

The Maternity Benefit Scheme for Construction Workers is a welfare scheme of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, run by the Labour and Employment Department of the UT Administration. The Board is constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, which received presidential assent on 19 August 1996 and is deemed to have come into force on 1 March 1996.

According to the Board's scheme page on bocwddd.in, the maternity benefit is paid at Rs 30,000 per delivery for up to two deliveries to a registered male member and Rs 40,000 per delivery for up to two deliveries to a registered female member. The same page also records that beneficiaries are enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, that is Ayushman Bharat, so a registered worker's family also carries central health cover in addition to this cash payment.

The distinction between the two amounts is worth understanding, because it is the part applicants most often misread. The Board pays against the registration. If the registered beneficiary is a man and his wife delivers, the family receives Rs 30,000. If the woman working on the site is herself the registered beneficiary, she receives Rs 40,000. A deliberately higher figure, because she loses her own wages during confinement.

Who is eligible for the maternity benefit?

You can claim if:

• You are registered as a beneficiary of the BOCW Welfare Fund in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu, and your registration is live.
• You are between 18 and 60 years of age, the statutory registration band.
• You had worked in building or other construction work for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months at the time of registration.
• Your subscription to the fund is up to date. Form II asks for the date and amount of your first and last subscription.
• The delivery is your first or second. The scheme page states the benefit shall not be allowed for more than two children.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a registered beneficiary of the Board. Registration comes first; there is no route to the benefit for an unregistered worker.
• You have already drawn the benefit for two deliveries.
• You are availing benefits under the ESIC Act, 1948 or the EPF and MP Act, 1952. The Board has clarified that such workers are not entitled to receive similar benefits admissible under the welfare schemes framed under the BOCW Act, 1996.
• Your registration has lapsed for non-payment of subscription and has not been revived.

How much does the scheme pay?

A registered woman worker who has two children therefore stands to receive up to Rs 80,000 in total across her two deliveries. In addition, the Board enrols beneficiaries under PM-JAY, which provides health cover for hospitalisation separately from this cash benefit.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the maternity benefit

1. Check your registration. Keep your BOCW registration number and the district of registration, DNH, Daman or Diu — ready, along with your contribution pass book or challan copies.
2. Collect Form II from the labour office of your district, or open the maternity benefit page on bocwddd.in, where the Board publishes the Form II fields and an online submission form.
3. Fill in the form completely. Form II asks for the name of the beneficiary, name of husband, date of registration, date of birth and age, date of confinement, gender, mobile number, Aadhaar number, temporary and permanent address, the date and amount of your first and last subscription, whether you have applied for this benefit before, and your bank account number, bank name, branch and IFSC code.
4. Attach the two prescribed documents, a copy of the challans or pass book, and the original medical certificate.
5. Submit the form to the Member Secretary (BOCWWB) through your district labour office. Keep an acknowledgement with the date of submission.
6. Follow up with the labour office. The Board sanctions the amount if the claim is found eligible, and the money is credited to the bank account given on the form.

How to register as a construction worker

Registration is the gateway to every BOCW scheme, including this one.

1. Confirm you are aged between 18 and 60 and have been engaged in building or other construction work for not less than 90 days during the preceding twelve months.
2. Apply in the prescribed registration form to the officer authorised by the Board, with the prescribed documents.
3. Pay the registration fee, which under the Act is not more than Rs 50.
4. Keep paying your subscription so that the membership stays live: lapsed membership has to be revived before a claim can be processed, and Form II itself asks whether membership has been revived.

How to check the status of your claim

The BOCW Welfare Board of the union territory does not publish an online application-tracking dashboard on bocwddd.in. Follow up in person or by telephone with the labour office where you filed Form II, quoting your BOCW registration number and the date of submission. Ask for the file number allotted to your claim; that number is what the office uses to trace the sanction.

Common reasons a maternity claim is rejected

• Registration not live, subscription unpaid, membership lapsed and not revived.
• No original medical certificate. A photocopy or a hospital discharge slip is not the prescribed proof of the date of confinement.
• Third or later delivery. The two-child limit is absolute on the face of the scheme.
• Benefit already drawn. Form II asks directly whether you have applied for this benefit before, and a duplicate claim for the same delivery is refused.
• Bank details wrong. A mismatched IFSC or an account not in the beneficiary's name stops the transfer even after sanction.
• Overlap with ESIC or EPF benefits, which the Board has expressly excluded.

Where to complain or get help

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli: BOCW Welfare Board, Old Circuit House Building, opposite Bal Bhawan, Silvassa 396230. Phone 0260-2642374, email labour-dnh@nic.in
• Daman: Vidhyut Bhavan, Kachigam, Daman 396215. Phone 0260-2261059, email lelidaman@gmail.com
• Diu: Labour and Employment Office, Collectorate, Diu 362520. Phone 02875-252444

The Board's website also carries a feedback form. There is no fee for filing Form II, and no agent is authorised to charge for getting a maternity claim sanctioned.