Death Benefit (GBOCWWB)

What is the GBOCWWB Death Benefit?

Death Benefit (GBOCWWB) is a welfare scheme of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, which sits under the Department of Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. The scheme pays a lump sum to the nominee or dependant of a registered construction worker who has died, either naturally or in an accident during the course of employment.

The Board is one of the statutory welfare boards created under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, funded by a cess collected on construction. Goa's construction workforce is large relative to the state's population and includes a substantial migrant component, and for many of those families the Board's death benefit is the only formal financial protection that exists.

Applications for this scheme are accepted offline.

How much does the death benefit pay?

The difference between the two figures is more than three times the amount, and what decides it is a single document. The certificate citing the cause of death issued by a Government doctor not below the rank of an Assistant Surgeon. Families should obtain that certificate carefully and promptly, and should ensure that where the death occurred at or because of work, the certificate says so.

The money goes to the nominee or dependant of the deceased worker.

Who is eligible for the death benefit?

A claim can be made if:

• The deceased was a worker.
• The deceased was between 18 and 60 years of age.
• The deceased had completed ninety days of service as a registered worker.
• The deceased was registered with the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
• The applicant is the nominee or dependant of the deceased.
• The death was natural, or was caused by an accident during the course of employment.

A special provision covers unregistered workers. The nominee or dependant of an unregistered worker is eligible on production of a certificate from the builder or the Inspector of the area stating that the deceased was a building worker. This provision matters in practice, because a large share of Goa's site workforce never completes Board registration.

A claim is not eligible if:

• The deceased was outside the 18 to 60 age band.
• The deceased had not completed ninety days of service as a registered worker, and no builder's or Inspector's certificate is produced in lieu.
• The applicant cannot establish the relationship of nominee or dependant to the deceased.
• The death certificate or the cause-of-death certificate is not produced.
• The deceased was not a building or construction worker at all.

What documents are required?

1. Worker registration card or number with the Board.
2. Receipt of payment of the first and last subscription with the Board.
3. Death certificate of the worker.
4. A certificate citing the cause of death, issued by a Government doctor not below the rank of an Assistant Surgeon.
5. Document establishing the relationship between the deceased worker and the applicant.
6. Certificate from the builder or the Inspector of the area, in the case of the nominee or dependant of an unregistered worker.

The subscription receipts are the document families most often struggle with. Board membership requires periodic subscription, and the first and last receipts together establish that the membership was live. If the receipts have been lost, approach the Board's office with the registration number. The Board holds its own record of subscriptions received.

How to apply for the GBOCWWB death benefit

1. Obtain the prescribed application form. Take a print of the form from the official website of the Department of Labour and Employment, Goa, or visit the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, 2nd floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa; telephone 0832-2437081, 2437082 or 2437083, email com-labo.goa@nic.in — and request a hard copy from the concerned authority.
2. Fill in all mandatory fields, paste a passport-sized photograph signed across if required, and self-attest copies of all documents.
3. Attach the worker registration card or number, the first and last subscription receipts, the death certificate, the Government doctor's cause-of-death certificate, and the proof of relationship. Add the builder's or Inspector's certificate if the worker was unregistered.
4. Submit the duly filled and signed application form and the documents to the concerned authority at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment.
5. Collect the receipt of the application assigned to you by the concerned authority, and keep it for all follow-up.

How do I check the status of the claim?

Status is checked at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, quoting the receipt issued at submission. The office telephone numbers are 0832-2437081, 2437082 and 2437083, and the departmental email is com-labo.goa@nic.in.

The Board processes the claim, verifies the registration and subscription record against its own database, and sanctions payment to the nominee. Where the claim is for the accidental death rate of Rs 1,00,000, the cause-of-death certificate is examined closely, and the Board may seek the accident record from the site or from the police.

Why claims are rejected or reduced

• Subscription not paid up, so the registration is not live at the date of death.
• Ninety days of service as a registered worker not completed, and no builder's or Inspector's certificate produced.
• Cause-of-death certificate issued by a doctor below the rank of Assistant Surgeon, or by a private practitioner rather than a Government doctor.
• Cause of death recorded ambiguously, so an accidental death is settled at the Rs 30,000 natural-death rate.
• Relationship not established. The most common problem where the worker left no nomination on record and several relatives claim.
• Worker outside the 18 to 60 age band at the date of death.

Where a nomination was never filed with the Board, the dependants must establish dependency through documents such as a ration card, a legal heirship certificate or a school record naming the parent, so gather these before filing.

Where do I complain?

The Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa, is the administering office to 2nd floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa, telephone 0832-2437081, 2437082 and 2437083, email com-labo.goa@nic.in. The departmental portal at labour.goa.gov.in publishes the Board's scheme documents and application forms.

The Government of Goa's public grievance route on goaonline.gov.in allows a grievance to be registered against the department and tracked by reference number.

Practical points for construction workers and their families

• Register with the Board while you are working. Registration takes little effort and is what makes every Board scheme, not only this one, available to your family.
• Keep the subscription current and keep every receipt. The first and last subscription receipts are mandatory documents for the death claim.
• File a nomination. A recorded nominee removes the single largest cause of dispute and delay in death claims.
• Where a death happens on site, get the accident recorded, with the builder, with the police where appropriate, and in the Government doctor's certificate. The wording of that certificate is worth Rs 70,000 to the family.
• Unregistered workers' families should not assume they are excluded. A certificate from the builder or the Inspector of the area confirming that the deceased was a building worker opens the claim.