Family Pension (GBOCWWB)

What is the GBOCWWB Family Pension?

Family Pension is Scheme No. 2 of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), which functions under the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. The Board has implemented the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act, 1996 in Goa with effect from 1st April 2008.

The scheme is short and precise. In the event of the death of a pensioner, family pension is given to the surviving spouse. The amount of pension is fifty percent of the pension received by the pensioner, or one hundred rupees, whichever is higher. An application in Form No. XLV must be submitted, with such documents as the Board may specify, within three months from the date of death of the pensioner.

Key features

• 50% of the deceased pensioner's pension, with a floor of Rs 100 per month.
• Payable to the surviving spouse only.
• Claimed in Form No. XLV, prescribed under rule 288.
• Three-month deadline from the date of death.
• Submitted to the Secretary of the Board or the officer authorised by him.
• Backed by Village Officer's certificates on relationship, pension and salary.

How does the underlying pension work?

Family Pension is derived from another Board scheme, so the base pension matters. Under the Board's Pension scheme, a member of the Fund who has been working as a building worker for not less than one year after the commencement of the rules becomes eligible for pension on completion of sixty years of age. The pension becomes payable from the first day of the month succeeding the month in which the worker completes sixty years.

That pension is applied for in Form No. XXXV, addressed to the Secretary of the Board or the officer authorised by him. If the Secretary, or the authorised officer, considers the applicant eligible, he sanctions the pension and sends the sanctioning order to the applicant. An application cannot be rejected without giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard, and where the applicant is found not eligible the application is rejected and the applicant informed accordingly.

Family Pension therefore only exists where that first sanction has already happened. The figure the surviving spouse receives is half of whatever the deceased was actually drawing, which is why the Board asks for the monthly pension amount in the form itself.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible?

You can apply if:

• You are the surviving spouse of a person who was drawing a pension from the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
• The pensioner has died, and you can produce the death certificate.
• You apply within three months from the date of death.
• You can obtain the Village Officer's certificates on your relationship with the worker, and on your not receiving a pension or a salary from a Government, Semi-Government or Private Institution.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• The deceased was a registered construction worker who never had a pension sanctioned. Family Pension is calculated as a percentage of a pension being received, so with no pension there is no family pension. The Board's separate Death Benefit and Funeral Benefit schemes are the ones that apply in that case.
• You are not the surviving spouse. The scheme names the surviving spouse and no one else. Children, parents and siblings are not covered by this particular benefit.
• You apply more than three months after the date of death, outside the prescribed window.
• You cannot produce the Village Officer's certificates. The Board's document list treats all four documents as required.

The form also asks the applicant to state whether he or she is receiving a pension or a salary from a Government, Semi-Government or any other institution, and if so to give details, which is why the two negative certificates from the Village Officer sit on the checklist.

How to apply for the GBOCWWB Family Pension

1. Obtain Form No. XLV, the prescribed application for family pension. The Board publishes its numbered schemes and forms on the Labour Department website under the BOCW Board's schemes page.
2. Register the death and obtain the death certificate of the worker. The date on that certificate starts the three-month clock.
3. Get the Village Officer's certificates. You need three separate certificates from the Village Officer: one showing the relationship between you and the worker, one stating that you are not receiving any pension from a Government, Semi-Government or Private Institution, and one stating that you are not receiving any salary from such an institution.
4. Fill Form No. XLV, entering your name and address, the address of the pensioner or worker, your relationship with the worker, the date of death of the worker, the monthly pension the worker was receiving, and your declaration on any pension or salary you receive, followed by the list of documents you are submitting.
5. Attach your bank account details and the pension sanction order or Board registration record of the deceased, which establishes the pension figure on which the 50% is computed.
6. Sign the declaration that the facts stated are true to the best of your knowledge and information, and date it.
7. Submit the application within three months from the date of death to the Secretary of the Board, or the officer authorised by him, at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, 2nd Floor, Sharma Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji-Goa.

How do I check the status of the claim?

The scheme is administered offline. The Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on 0832-2437081, 82 or 83 is the working number for the Board, and the email address published for the office is com-labo[at]goa[dot]nic[dot]in. Ask for the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board section and quote the deceased pensioner's name and registration number. The Board's own pages under labour.goa.gov.in/bocwb carry the schemes list, downloadable forms, orders and circulars, and the citizen client charter that sets out the office's service commitments.

Keep a copy of the submitted Form No. XLV and the acknowledgement. Because the sanction is expressed as a percentage of the deceased's pension, disputes are usually about the base figure rather than about eligibility, and having the deceased's own pension sanction order to hand settles most of them.

Why family pension claims get rejected

• Applying more than three months after the date of death. This is the hardest of the scheme's conditions.
• The deceased was never a pensioner of the Board, only a registered worker.
• The applicant is not the surviving spouse.
• Missing Village Officer's certificates, particularly the two negative certificates about pension and salary from other institutions.
• Death certificate not produced.
• The monthly pension figure left blank in Form No. XLV, so the 50% computation cannot be made.
• Bank details missing or incorrect, which stalls the monthly credit after sanction.

What are the other GBOCWWB schemes?

The Board runs a numbered series of welfare schemes for registered building and other construction workers in Goa, funded by the cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act. Alongside Family Pension, the list includes Maternity Benefit, Advance for Purchase or Construction of House, Disability Pension, Funeral Benefit, Death Benefit, Grant for the Purchase of Tools, Financial Assistance for Education, Financial Assistance for Marriage, Medical Assistance, Pension Benefit and Interim Relief to Beneficiaries Affected by Disaster.

A household that has lost a construction worker should check which of these applies. If the worker was drawing a pension, Family Pension is the right scheme. If the worker was a registered beneficiary but not yet a pensioner, the Death Benefit and Funeral Benefit schemes are the ones to file.

Where to get help

• Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Goa, 2nd Floor, Sharma Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji-Goa — 0832-2437081, 82, 83.
• Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, whose schemes, forms, notifications and circulars are published at labour.goa.gov.in/bocwb.
• Citizen Client Charter of the Board, which sets out the office's commitments on time-bound delivery.

There is no fee to apply, and no agent has any role in a Board claim. Registration with the Board during the worker's lifetime is what makes every one of these benefits possible, so a construction worker in Goa who is not yet a registered beneficiary of the Fund should regularise that first.