Funeral Assistance (GBOCWWB)

What is Funeral Assistance under the GBOCWWB?

Funeral Assistance is a welfare benefit of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and administered through the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. The Board has implemented the Act in Goa since 1 April 2008.

The benefit is small, immediate and specific. The scheme text is a single sentence: the Board may sanction an amount of ten thousand rupees to the nominees or dependants of a deceased member, towards funeral expenses, and an application in Form No. XLI shall be submitted for this benefit.

Construction is the most casualised organised trade in Goa. A worker's family frequently has no savings and no employer who will pay anything on a death, and a funeral has to be arranged within a day or two. Rs 10,000 does not replace a breadwinner, but it meets the immediate cost at the point where a family has no capacity to raise money.

How much does the scheme pay?

Rs 10,000, as a one-time payment to the nominee or dependants of the deceased worker.

The scheme is listed as Scheme No. 5 in the Board's published set of twelve welfare schemes, alongside maternity benefit, family pension, advance for purchase or construction of house, disability pension, 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.

Who is eligible to claim funeral assistance?

You can claim if:

• You are the nominee of a deceased worker who was registered as a beneficiary with the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board; or
• You are a dependant of such a worker and can submit a dependence certificate; and
• The deceased worker's membership of the Board was live, evidenced by the record of the first and last subscription paid.

The Board's general registration criteria for beneficiaries are construction workers in the age group of 18 to 60 years, and the Board's welfare schemes extend to those workers and their families.

You cannot apply, and are not eligible, if:

• The deceased was never registered with the Board. This is a members' fund, not a general public benefit.
• The deceased's membership had lapsed and cannot be shown to have been live. Form No. XLI asks the question directly.
• You are neither the nominee nor a dependant, and cannot produce a dependence certificate.
• Other nominees have not consented where there is more than one nominee.
• The guardianship of minor nominees is not established by certificate.

What does Form No. XLI ask for?

Form No. XLI, prescribed under rule 282 and titled Application for Funeral Benefit, requires the following, which is effectively the document checklist:

1. Name and address of the applicant.
2. Relationship of the applicant with the worker.
3. Name and address of the worker.
4. Registration number of the worker.
5. Date of registration.
6. Date of payment and amount of the first subscription, and the name of the bank and branch.
7. Date of payment and amount of the last subscription, and the name of the bank and branch.
8. Duration of membership.
9. Whether membership was live.
10. Date of death of the worker.
11. Reason for death.
12. Whether the applicant is the nominee of the worker.
13. If not, whether the applicant has submitted a dependence certificate.
14. Name, age and date of birth of the nominee.
15. Where the nominees are minors, the name of the guardian and their relationship with the children.
16. Whether consent letters from other nominees have been submitted, where there is more than one nominee.
17. Whether a certificate of guardianship has been submitted by the minor children.
18. Amount of benefit applied for.

The form ends with a declaration that the facts stated are true to the best of the applicant's knowledge and information.

How to apply for GBOCWWB funeral assistance

1. Locate the worker's Board registration details, the registration number and the date of registration. These are usually on the worker's Board identity card, and can otherwise be traced at the Labour Commissioner's office.
2. Trace the subscription record. The date, amount, bank and branch for both the first and the last subscription paid. This is what establishes that membership was live, and it is the item most families struggle with.
3. Obtain the death certificate from the registering authority of births and deaths, and note the reason for death, which Form No. XLI asks for.
4. Obtain Form No. XLI from the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, and complete all eighteen items.
5. Attach the supporting papers: proof that you are the nominee, or a dependence certificate if you are not; consent letters from other nominees if there is more than one; and a certificate of guardianship where the nominees are minor children.
6. Submit the application at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, 2nd Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, Goa, and take an acknowledgement.
7. Ask about the Death Benefit at the same visit. It is a separate scheme of the same Board and a separate form, and a family that claims only the funeral assistance may be leaving a much larger entitlement unclaimed.

How is the claim decided and paid?

The scheme is worded permissively — the Board may sanction the amount, so the sanction is a decision of the Board on the material before it, not an automatic entitlement on filing. In practice the decision turns on two things: that the deceased was a registered beneficiary whose membership was live, and that the applicant is the nominee or a proven dependant.

There is no published online status tracker for the Board's schemes. Status is followed up at the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083, against the acknowledgement given at submission.

Why do funeral assistance claims get rejected?

• Worker not registered with the Board.
• Membership not live. The single commonest reason. Subscriptions to the Board's fund lapse quietly, and families discover it only at the point of claim.
• Subscription record cannot be produced. The dates, amounts and bank details of the first and last subscription are all asked for by name in Form No. XLI.
• Applicant is not the nominee and has not obtained a dependence certificate.
• Consent letters missing from co-nominees.
• Guardianship certificate missing for minor nominees.
• Death certificate not produced, or the reason for death not stated.

Where do I complain?

The Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Goa, 2nd Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto Plaza, Panaji, is the office that handles the Board's schemes. It can be reached on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 and 0832-2437083, and by email at com-labo.goa@nic.in.

The Board's citizen charter and the Government of Goa's public grievance registration route at goaonline.gov.in are the escalation paths.

Practical points for a bereaved family

• Go with the registration card and the death certificate. Everything else can be reconstructed at the office; those two are the starting points.
• Claim both benefits. Funeral Assistance is Rs 10,000. The Board's separate Death Benefit pays Rs 30,000 on a natural death and Rs 1,00,000 where the death was due to an accident during the course of employment. They are different schemes with different forms, and the funeral claim does not trigger the death claim.
• Ask about Family Pension too, which is another of the Board's twelve schemes and may apply to a surviving spouse.
• If the worker was unregistered, ask the office whether a certificate from the builder or the Inspector of the area stating that the deceased was a building worker can support a claim. That route exists for the Board's death benefit and is worth raising.
• Keep subscriptions current while the worker is alive. This is the single action that protects a family's access to all twelve of the Board's schemes, and it costs very little.