Loan for the Purchase of Tools (GBOCWWB)

What is the Loan for the Purchase of Tools scheme?

Loan for the Purchase of Tools is a welfare scheme of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), a body under the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa. Through the scheme, a worker registered with the Board can borrow from the Board's welfare fund to buy the tools of their trade.

The Board states that it has implemented the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act 1996 in Goa with effect from 1 April 2008. The Board's money comes from the cess levied on the cost of construction across the state. A small percentage of every project's cost, collected under the companion Cess Act and pooled into a welfare fund for the workers on those sites.

The tools loan is a small scheme with a disproportionate effect on earnings. In the construction trades, a worker who owns his own tools is paid as a skilled tradesman; a worker who has to borrow them from the contractor or from another worker is paid as labour and takes what work is offered. A mason's trowels and levels, a carpenter's planes and saws, a tiler's cutter, an electrician's testers. These are the difference between a daily wage and a rate. Most construction workers can afford the tools in principle and cannot afford them at once, which is exactly the gap a welfare-fund loan fills.

Who is eligible for the tools loan?

You can apply if:

• You are a registered beneficiary of the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
• Your membership of the Fund is current, with contributions paid up to date.
• You are buying tools for your own construction trade.
• You can produce a quotation or estimate from a supplier identifying the tools and their cost.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the Board. Registration as a building worker is the precondition for every benefit the Board pays.
• Your registration has lapsed for want of contributions.
• You are a contractor or employer. Establishments employing building workers have registration duties under the Act; they are not beneficiaries of the welfare fund.
• You are buying something other than trade tools. Vehicles, construction material and general household purchases are outside the scheme.
• You have an earlier loan or advance outstanding with the Board, subject to the Board's rules on concurrent borrowing.

How much is the tools loan?

The Board fixes the quantum of the tools loan by resolution and revises it from time to time. This guide does not state a rupee figure, because no current ceiling for the Goa tools loan could be confirmed on a Government of Goa source at the time of writing. Confirm the amount currently sanctioned, the rate of interest if any, and the repayment schedule directly with the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083.

What is clear from the scheme's own title and structure:

• It is a loan, repayable to the welfare fund, not a subsidy against the purchase price.
• It is sanctioned against an identified purchase, which is why a supplier's quotation is needed rather than a general request for working capital.
• The repayment terms are set out in the sanction order, and a worker should read them before taking disbursement.

What documents are required?

Get the quotation on the supplier's letterhead, itemised, dated and with the supplier's GST details where the supplier is registered. A handwritten slip with a single total is the commonest reason a tools file goes back for clarification.

How to apply for the tools loan

1. Check that your Board registration is live and your contributions are up to date. If membership has lapsed, restore it before applying.
2. Decide exactly which tools you need and obtain an itemised quotation from a supplier, on letterhead, showing each item and its price.
3. Obtain the prescribed application form for the Loan for the Purchase of Tools from the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board through the Labour Commissioner's office.
4. Fill in the form with your registration number, trade, the tools proposed and the amount sought, matching the quotation.
5. Attach the enclosures; Board registration card, contribution record, quotation, Aadhaar card and bank account details.
6. Submit the application to the Goa Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board through the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, and take an acknowledgement carrying the inward number and date.
7. Read the sanction order when it arrives, including the repayment schedule, before accepting the disbursement.

How do I check the status of my loan application?

Status is checked with the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment on 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083, or by email at com-labo.goa@nic.in, quoting the inward number on your acknowledgement and your Board registration number.

The Board's own page at labour.goa.gov.in/bocwb lists the e-services currently available through the Labour Department, including the Labour and Employment card and registration of establishments employing building workers. The e-service catalogue expands over time, so it is worth checking whether an online status facility has since been added.

Why do tools loan applications fail?

• Registration lapsed. Contributions not paid means no entitlement, whatever the merits of the request.
• No itemised quotation, or a quotation whose total does not match the amount applied for.
• Items outside the scheme. A request that mixes tools with material, transport or personal purchases will be sent back.
• Earlier loan or advance outstanding with the Board.
• Bank account details wrong or in another person's name, which halts disbursement after the sanction has issued.
• Trade not established. Where the tools are specific — say a full electrician's kit, the Board will want to see that the applicant works in that trade.

Where do I complain?

The Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment, Government of Goa, is the authority above the Board. Contact 0832-2437081, 0832-2437082 or 0832-2437083, or email com-labo.goa@nic.in. The office publishes a citizen charter and names an appellate authority on labour.goa.gov.in.

A grievance may also be registered against the department through the Government of Goa's citizen services portal at goaonline.gov.in.

Practical advice

• Buy tools that outlast the loan. The repayment runs for a fixed period, and a cheap tool that fails in a season leaves the worker repaying for something no longer in use.
• Keep the purchase bill after disbursement, not just the quotation. The Board may ask for proof that the loan was applied to the purpose sanctioned.
• Repay on schedule. Default affects eligibility for the Board's housing advance and other benefits, which matter far more in rupee terms than the tools loan itself.
• Register with the Board as early in your working life as possible. Every benefit the Board pays: tools, housing, pension, disability; is measured from registration and continuous membership, so registering late permanently shortens the entitlement.
• Registered workers should also look at the Board's Advance for Purchase or Construction of House, Pension Benefit and Disability Pension schemes, which run on the same registration.