Accidental Death Assistance Scheme (GBOCWWB)

What is the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme?

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme is a welfare scheme of the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), the statutory board constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 and run by the Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department of the Government of Gujarat.

According to the Board's own scheme document, the purpose of the scheme is "to provide financial assistance to the heirs of the construction laborers, registered or unregistered with the Board, in case of accidental death or permanent disability during ongoing work at the construction site."

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme pays a single lump sum of Rs 3,00,000. The Board's scheme note carries the version dated 27 October 2023, which is the current published text on the GBOCWWB portal.

Construction is among the most accident-prone occupations in Gujarat; falls from height, scaffold collapses, electrocution and being struck by material are the recurring causes. The scheme exists because a family that loses its earning member to a site accident usually has no insurance, no gratuity and no employer willing to admit liability quickly.

What makes this scheme different from the Board's other benefits

• Registration with the Board is not a precondition. Almost every other GBOCWWB scheme is limited to registered workers holding an e-Nirman card.
• The trigger is the accident, not the worker's employment record.
• The same scheme covers two very different outcomes; death, and permanent disability, with two different document sets.

Who is eligible for the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme?

You can claim if:

• The deceased or injured person was a construction worker engaged in building or other construction work in Gujarat.
• The accident happened during ongoing work at a construction site.
• The outcome was accidental death or permanent disability.
• You are the legal heir of the deceased worker (for a death claim), or the worker himself or herself (for a disability claim).
• The worker was registered or unregistered with the Board, both are covered under this particular scheme.

You are not eligible if:

• The death was from natural causes or illness rather than an accident. The Board runs a separate Funeral Assistance Scheme and an occupational disease assistance scheme for those situations.
• The accident had no connection with construction work at a site — for example a road accident while off duty, or an accident in a different trade.
• You cannot produce an FIR, police panchnama and post mortem report to establish that the death was accidental.
• You are not named in the heirship document issued by the Talati, Mamlatdar or Executive Magistrate, and no other heir has given written consent naming you as the recipient.

There is no income ceiling and no age bar published for this scheme.

What documents are required?

The Board publishes two separate lists, because a disability claim does not need the police record that a death claim does.

Two practical points on this list. First, the affidavit and consent form matters most where a worker leaves a widow, parents and adult children, the Board pays one account, and the consent form is what tells it which one. Second, the bank details must be in the name of the person the heirship document names; a claim routed to a relative's account is the single easiest way to have the file returned.

How to apply for the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme applications are filed online on the Sanman portal, which is the Government of Gujarat's labour welfare application portal.

1. Collect the death or disability documents first. For a death claim, the FIR or panchnama, the post mortem report and the death certificate take the longest to obtain, so start with the police station and the local body.
2. Get the heirship certificate from the Talati, Mamlatdar or Executive Magistrate of the taluka where the family lives, and have the affidavit and consent form drawn up and notarised.
3. Open sanman.gujarat.gov.in and register or log in. If the deceased worker held an e-Nirman construction worker card, keep the card number ready, it speeds up verification even though registration is not compulsory here.
4. Select the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme from the list of GBOCWWB schemes and fill in the worker's details, the accident details and the claimant's bank account and IFSC code.
5. Upload scanned copies of every document in the applicable column above, then submit and save the acknowledgement number shown on screen.
6. Track the application with the same acknowledgement number under the application status option on the portal.

How to apply offline at the district office

1. Visit the district office of the Construction Board in your district with the complete document set and the first page of the bank passbook.
2. Fill in the prescribed application form for the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme and hand it in with the attachments.
3. The District Project Manager enters the physical form into the Sanman system on your behalf. Ask for the acknowledgement number at this point.
4. Follow up on the same acknowledgement number by phone on the Board's toll-free number 1800-233-2324.

How is the claim processed and paid?

GBOCWWB moves applications through a fixed departmental chain rather than a single desk. The District Project Manager submits the file online, the District Nirikshak (district inspector) verifies and approves it, the file then goes to the State Project Manager, and at head office it is cleared by the Government Labour Officer and then the Member Secretary. Once approved, the Accounts Officer issues the payment order and the assistance is released by DBT into the applicant's bank account.

That chain is worth understanding because it explains why a claim can sit for weeks at one stage. When you call the helpline, ask which stage the file is at rather than only whether it is approved.

Why claims are rejected, and how to fix them

• No police record of the accident. A death certificate on its own does not establish that a death was accidental. Get the FIR or panchnama registered at the time, not months later.
• Post mortem not performed. Where the body was released without a post mortem, the file usually cannot proceed. This is the hardest defect to cure after the fact.
• Heirship document does not name the claimant. Return to the Talati or Mamlatdar for a corrected certificate rather than filing an appeal.
• Name mismatch between the worker's ID, the death certificate and the bank account. A notarised affidavit or gazette entry reconciling the two spellings is the standard fix the Board accepts across its schemes.
• Accident not linked to construction work. Where the employer disputes that the worker was on site, a labour contractor's statement, wage record or co-workers' affidavit can be attached.
• Duplicate claim by two heirs. Both files are held. Resolve it with a single consent form signed by all heirs and resubmit once.

Where to get help

• GBOCWWB toll-free helpline: 1800-233-2324
• Board office: 079-25502271, First Floor, F-1 Wing, Block-3, Karmayogi Bhavan, Sector 10-A, Gandhinagar; and 1st Floor, Shram Bhavan, opposite Gun House, Ahmedabad
• Application portal: sanman.gujarat.gov.in
• Worker registration portal: enirmanbocw.gujarat.gov.in
• Board website: bocwwb.gujarat.gov.in

A final note for families still in the first few days after a site accident: register the police complaint and insist on a post mortem before anything else. Those two documents decide whether this Rs 3,00,000 claim can be made at all, and they cannot be created later. Registering the worker under the e-Nirman portal, which surviving family members of unregistered workers often ask about, is not required for this scheme, but it does open the Board's other benefits such as education assistance and maternity assistance to the rest of the family.