Educational Award Scheme - Gujarat Labour Welfare Board

What is the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board Educational Award Scheme?

The Educational Award Scheme is a merit cash award run by the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board for the children of workers in covered establishments. The board describes the purpose as encouraging the students of labourers, raising their enthusiasm and helping them go on to higher education.

According to the board's Educational Award Scheme page, the amounts are fixed and simple:

• Standard 10 to Rs 2,500 for 70 percent marks and above.
• Standard 12 — Rs 5,000 for 70 percent marks and above.

The Gujarat Labour Welfare Board was constituted in 1960 under The Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953, and works under the Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department. Its schemes are financed from the Labour Welfare Fund, into which covered employers deposit contributions. That funding structure determines who can claim: the award belongs to children of workers in establishments that pay into the fund, not to every student in Gujarat.

The award is deliberately targeted at the two examinations where children of industrial and shop workers most often stop studying. A Standard 10 pass with 70 percent is the point at which a family decides between Standard 11 and a job, and a Standard 12 pass with 70 percent is the point at which college fees become the obstacle. Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 will not pay for a degree, but they arrive at the exact moment a family is weighing admission costs.

The board runs a Higher Education Reward Scheme as a separate item in its welfare scheme list, so this Educational Award Scheme should be read as the school-level award and the higher education scheme as the next step.

Who is eligible for the Educational Award Scheme?

A student qualifies if:

• The parent is a worker in a factory, shop or establishment in Gujarat that is covered by the Labour Welfare Fund.
• The employer deposits the Labour Welfare Fund contribution for that parent with the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board.
• The student has scored 70 percent or more in the Standard 10 examination, for the Rs 2,500 award, or 70 percent or more in the Standard 12 examination, for the Rs 5,000 award.
• The application is filed within the window of 1 June to 28 February of the following year.
• A bank account is available for the transfer.

A student is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• The parent's employer does not contribute to the Labour Welfare Fund, which places the family outside the board's coverage.
• The parent is self-employed, a casual worker outside a covered establishment, or works in another state.
• The student scored below 70 percent. There is no partial award and no rounding of 69 percent to 70 percent.
• The result is from a class other than Standard 10 or Standard 12. Students in Standard 9 or Standard 11, or in a degree course, are not covered by this particular award.
• The application is filed after 28 February of the year following the result, since the board closes the window on that date.
• The award for the same examination has already been drawn.

Parents should verify the contribution position before the result is even declared. If the employer is not a contributing establishment, no amount of academic merit will make the claim payable, and the family should look at scholarships from the education department or the Social Justice and Empowerment Department instead.

What documents are required for the educational award?

Percentage calculation is a frequent source of dispute. Where the marksheet shows only a CGPA or grades, attach the board's conversion certificate so the office does not have to compute the percentage itself.

How to apply for the Educational Award Scheme

1. Wait for the board result and collect the marksheet. Applications open on 1 June, which follows the declaration of Gujarat board results.
2. Get the parent's employment papers. Ask the employer for a certificate of employment and for proof that Labour Welfare Fund contributions are deposited with the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board against the parent's name.
3. Register on the Sanman portal. Open sanman.gujarat.gov.in, create a worker account through the registration link, and verify the mobile number by OTP.
4. Log in and select the Educational Award Scheme from the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board list of schemes.
5. Fill the application form with the parent's employment details, the student's name and examination details, the percentage scored, and the bank account details for payment.
6. Upload the marksheet, employer certificate, contribution proof, relationship proof, Aadhaar copies and bank passbook, keeping every scan legible.
7. Submit before 28 February of the following year and save the application number from the acknowledgement screen.
8. Track the application on the portal and watch the linked bank account for the credit.

Do not leave the filing to February. The window is nine months long precisely so that families are not squeezed, but the last weeks of any government window are when portals slow down and district offices are busiest.

How to check the status of an educational award application

1. Log in to sanman.gujarat.gov.in with the account used to apply.
2. Open the application status page and enter the application number.
3. If the file is shown as pending with the office, raise a service request on the board's e-Seva portal at glwbcrm.gujarat.gov.in.
4. Call the toll-free number 1800-233-1961 or the head office on 079-22773303 with the application number, the student's name and the parent's employer name ready.

Why educational award applications get rejected

• Percentage below 70, including cases where a CGPA was misread as a percentage.
• No Labour Welfare Fund contribution recorded for the parent, because the establishment is outside the board's coverage or the employer has defaulted.
• Relationship not proved between the applicant parent and the student.
• Application filed after 28 February, outside the published window.
• Bank details wrong, most often an IFSC that belongs to a different branch.
• Illegible marksheet scan, which the office cannot verify.
• Duplicate application for the same examination.

Where the parent's employer has simply not deposited the contribution, the family's remedy is against the employer, whose statutory duty it is. Raise it with the board and with the Labour and Employment Department rather than resubmitting the same application.

Where to get help

• Toll free: 1800-233-1961
• Head office: Gujarat Labour Welfare Board, Shramyogi Kalyan Bhavan, "G" Colony, opposite water tank, Sukhramnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380021
• Phone: 079-22773303 to 22773306
• Email: glwb1961 at gmail dot com
• e-Seva: glwbcrm.gujarat.gov.in
• Scheme page: glwb.gujarat.gov.in/educational-award-scheme.htm

There is no fee to apply for the educational award, and no agent is needed. The whole application is filed by the family on the Sanman portal, and the board pays the Rs 2,500 or Rs 5,000 directly into the bank account given in the form.