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

What is the pension scheme for construction workers?

The Pension 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, administered by the Labour and Employment Department of the UT Administration. The Board lists it as Form IX in its Dadra and Nagar Haveli scheme series and as Form III on its Daman and Diu pages. Making payment of pension is one of the statutory functions the BOCW (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 assigns to every welfare board.

According to the Board's scheme page, any registered worker can apply in the prescribed form to the Member Secretary (BOCWWB), and the Board may sanction the amount if the applicant is found eligible. The scheme has two distinct limbs:

• A monthly pension of Rs 3,000 to a worker who has been a member of the fund for not less than ten years, payable after completion of 60 years of age.
• Registration of workers aged 18 to 40 under PM-SYM, the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan pension scheme, with the premium borne by the BOCW Welfare Board, Silvassa.

The two limbs work together across a working life. A young worker who registers in his twenties is enrolled in PM-SYM at the Board's cost while he keeps building his ten years of membership; a worker who has completed ten years and reaches 60 draws the Board's own Rs 3,000 monthly pension.

Who is eligible for the construction worker pension?

You can claim the Rs 3,000 monthly pension if:

• You are registered as a beneficiary of the BOCW Welfare Fund in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu.
• You have been a member of the fund for not less than ten years.
• You have completed 60 years of age.
• You had been engaged in building or other construction work for not less than 90 days in the preceding 12 months when you first registered, and you were then between 18 and 60.

You are eligible for the PM-SYM limb if you are a registered worker in the age group of 18 to 40, in which case the Board pays the premium.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a registered beneficiary of the Board.
• Your membership is under ten years old, however long you have worked in construction.
• You have not yet completed 60 years of age.
• You are availing benefits under the ESIC Act, 1948 or the EPF and MP Act, 1952. The Board states this exclusion explicitly on the pension page: such workers "will not be entitled to receive any similar benefits admissible under the welfare schemes formulated under the BOCW (RE and CS) Act, 1996". A worker already drawing an EPS-95 pension therefore falls outside this scheme.
• Your membership lapsed and was not revived, breaking the ten-year record.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the construction worker pension

1. Confirm the two conditions, that you have completed 60 years of age and that your membership of the fund runs to at least ten years. Pull out your contribution pass book or challan copies and check the date of your first subscription.
2. Collect the prescribed form, Form IX in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Form III in Daman and Diu, from your district labour office, or open the "Pension Scheme" page on bocwddd.in.
3. Fill in the form, quoting your BOCW registration location (DNH, Daman or Diu) and registration number, your personal and address details, your subscription history, and your bank account number, bank name, branch and IFSC code.
4. Attach age proof and the subscription record, and submit the form to the Member Secretary (BOCWWB) through your district labour office.
5. Take an acknowledgement and follow up. The Board sanctions the pension if the applicant is found eligible, and it is then credited monthly to the nominated account.

For PM-SYM enrolment, a registered worker aged 18 to 40 should approach the same district labour office. PM-SYM is a central pension scheme for unorganised workers, and the Board's undertaking is to bear the premium for its registered beneficiaries.

How to register with the Board

1. Confirm you are aged 18 to 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 for your district, with the prescribed documents.
3. Pay the registration fee of not more than Rs 50.
4. Keep the subscription unbroken. The pension is the one benefit where the length of membership is decisive; ten continuous years is what unlocks Rs 3,000 a month for life.

How to check your pension status

The Board does not publish an online pension tracker on bocwddd.in. Follow up at the district labour office where Form IX was filed, quoting your BOCW registration number and the date of submission. Once the pension starts, check the credit in your bank passbook each month, and report any missed credit to the same office immediately rather than waiting for several months to accumulate.

Why pension claims get rejected or delayed

• Membership short of ten years, including cases where the record is broken by a lapse and revival.
• Age not yet 60, or age proof that does not match the registration record.
• Subscription record incomplete; missing challans for some years is the most common practical obstacle, which is why the pass book should be preserved.
• Already drawing a similar benefit under ESIC or EPF, which the Board excludes on the face of the scheme page.
• Bank account details wrong, which stops the monthly credit even after sanction.
• Aadhaar and bank name mismatch, which routinely blocks direct benefit transfers.

What else an ageing construction worker can claim

The pension is one of ten welfare schemes the Board lists for Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and a worker approaching 60 is often eligible for more than one of them at the same time:

• Ex-gratia for permanent disability and chronic diseases (Form V) — Rs 1,00,000 for 100% permanent disability, reimbursement of chronic-disease treatment up to Rs 1 lakh a year for the worker or dependants, and Rs 40,000 for a surgery or operation other than one related to maternity.
• Medical assistance and wage loss (Form VI), reimbursement of actual medical expenditure for injuries caused during the course of employment on production of original bills, plus half-monthly wages for the period of disablement under the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923.
• Marriage assistance (Form VIII): Rs 51,000 for a daughter's marriage and Rs 35,000 for a son's, for up to two children, after six months of membership.
• Construction of a residential house (Form IV), a token amount not exceeding Rs 75,000 for building on your own land, after one year of membership.
• Funeral assistance (Form X); Rs 20,000 to nominees or dependants on the death of the member or the member's spouse.
• Ex-gratia for death (Form XI): Rs 4,00,000 where death occurs in the course of employment and Rs 2,00,000 for death from any other cause, disbursed within 60 days of the date of death.

Record a nomination with the Board while filing the pension application. Two of the schemes above are payable only to nominees or dependants, and an up-to-date nomination is the single thing that decides how quickly a family is paid.

Where to 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 carries a feedback form and an RTI page for written grievances. No fee is charged for filing a pension application, and no agent is authorised to charge for getting a pension sanctioned.