Financial Assistance for Marriage (GBOCWWB)

What is the Financial Assistance for Marriage scheme?

Financial Assistance for Marriage is a welfare scheme of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), which functions under the Department of Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. The Board pays a one-time sum of Rs 4,000 towards the marriage of a registered construction worker's child, and a woman worker may claim it for her own marriage.

The scheme exists because a marriage is the single largest cash event in most construction workers' household budgets, and it typically lands on families with no savings buffer. The Board's cess-funded welfare package sets aside a fixed sum so a worker does not have to borrow the whole amount.

The Board's consolidated statement of schemes dated 8 September 2015 records the quantum plainly:

Eligibility criteria: Beneficiary who is having continuous membership for 3 years can get financial assistance for their children and female beneficiary for her own marriage. Documents to be submitted: Form No. XLIV. Quantum of benefits: Rs 4,000.

That figure is a revision. The original rule text printed on the Board's Scheme No. 9 form still describes assistance of "two thousand rupees", because the printed form predates the enhancement. Where the two differ, the 2015 consolidated statement carrying Rs 4,000 is the operative figure, and it is the one myScheme also publishes for this scheme.

Key features

• Rs 4,000 one-time assistance per marriage.
• Available for the marriage of two children of the beneficiary.
• Available to a female beneficiary for her own marriage.
• Requires 3 years of continuous Board membership.
• Applied for offline in Form No. XLIV, prescribed under rule 287.

Who is eligible for marriage assistance from the Board?

You can apply if:

• You are a building or other construction worker registered with the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
• You have continuous membership with the Board for 3 years.
• Your membership is live. The form asks this in terms, at serial 8.
• The claim is for the marriage of your son or daughter, or, if you are a woman worker, for your own marriage.
• You have not already claimed for two children.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not registered with the Board. Registration comes first; the Labour Department publishes the registration eligibility rules on its site.
• Your membership is less than 3 years old or has lapsed because subscriptions were not paid. The form records the first and last subscription dates precisely so the Board can check this.
• You are claiming for a third child. The assistance is sanctioned for the marriage of two children only.
• You work outside the building and other construction trades and are therefore not covered by the Board at all.
• Your spouse, also a Board member, has already been sanctioned the assistance for the same marriage. The form asks about this at serial 9(1) and 9(2).

What documents are required?

How to apply for Financial Assistance for Marriage

1. Obtain Form No. XLIV. Either print the prescribed format from the official website of the Department of Labour and Employment, Goa, or visit the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, 2nd Floor, Shrama Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa (phone 0832-2437081 / 82 / 83, email com-labo.goa@nic.in) and request a hard copy from the concerned authority.
2. Fill in all mandatory fields, your name and address, registration number, age and date of birth, the date and bank of your first and last subscription, the duration of membership and whether it is live, and then either the section for a child's marriage (serial 9) or the section for a woman worker's own marriage (serial 10). Paste the passport-size photograph if the form asks for one.
3. Attach self-attested copies of all documents, particularly the marriage certificate with its number, date and issuing authority, the child's date of birth proof, the bride or bridegroom's address, and your bank passbook.
4. Submit the duly filled and signed form with the documents to the concerned authority at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Panaji.
5. Collect the receipt issued by the concerned authority. Keep it. It is your reference for following up on the sanction.

How is the claim processed?

The Board verifies three things in sequence: that the registration is genuine and live, that three years of continuous subscription have been paid, and that the marriage actually took place on the date certified. Only then is the Rs 4,000 sanctioned and released.

Because the check turns on subscription history, workers who have let payments slip are the group most often turned away. If your last subscription is old, regularise the membership before the marriage rather than after. A claim cannot be repaired retrospectively by paying arrears on the day of application.

How do I check the status of my claim?

The scheme has no online tracking portal. Follow up in person or by telephone at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, quoting the receipt number issued at submission and your Board registration number. The Labour Department's contact page on goa.gov.in lists the office numbers 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 and 0832-2437083 and the email com-labo.goa@nic.in.

Why a claim may be rejected

• Membership under 3 years on the date of the marriage.
• Lapsed membership, subscriptions not paid, so the membership is not live.
• Marriage certificate missing or lacking the number, date and issuing authority the form asks for.
• Third child claim, beyond the two-child limit in the rules.
• Duplicate claim where the spouse, also a Board member, has already been sanctioned for the same marriage.
• Registration number mismatch between the form and the Board's records.
• Bank details wrong, which stalls the release even after sanction.

What other benefits does the Board give?

Financial Assistance for Marriage is one item in a wider GBOCWWB package. From the same consolidated statement:

• Medical Assistance — Rs 400 for the first 5 days of hospitalisation and Rs 40 for each remaining day, subject to a maximum of Rs 2,000.
• Disability Pension: Rs 300 per month, plus an ex-gratia payment of not more than Rs 10,000 depending on the disability percentage.
• Funeral Assistance: Rs 5,000 to the nominees or dependants.
• Family Pension to 50% of the pension received by the pensioner, or Rs 200.

A registered worker planning a claim should check whether more than one of these applies to the household's situation.

Where to get help

• Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, 2nd Floor, Shrama Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa, phone 0832-2437081 / 2437082 / 2437083, email com-labo.goa@nic.in.
• Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, an ancillary office under the Commissioner of Labour and Employment, for registration, subscription records and claim status.
• Department of Labour and Employment, Goa website for the prescribed forms for each of the Board's schemes.