Female Child Birth Gift Scheme (HPBOCWWB)

What is the Female Child Birth Gift Scheme?

The Female Child Birth Gift Scheme is a girl-child savings benefit paid by the Himachal Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (HPBOCWWB), which works under the Labour and Employment Department, Government of Himachal Pradesh. In Hindi the Board lists it as the Beti Janam Uphar Yojana, and it appears in the Board's welfare schemes booklet at Rule 298.

According to that booklet, the Board gives Rs 51,000 for each of two daughters of a registered beneficiary, and the amount is handed over in the form of a Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) which can be withdrawn only after the daughter completes 18 years of age. The design is deliberate. Rather than paying cash at birth, the Board locks the money for eighteen years so that it is available when the daughter reaches adulthood, for her education or her own use.

HPBOCWWB is financed by the cess levied on construction projects in Himachal Pradesh under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996. Every benefit the Board pays, including this one, is drawn from that fund and is available only to workers whose names sit on the Board's live register.

Who is eligible for the Female Child Birth Gift Scheme, and who is not

Eligibility works in two layers — valid registration, then the scheme condition.

Conditions for registration as a building or construction worker:

• Resident of Himachal Pradesh.
• Employed as a building or other construction worker.
• Aged between 18 and 60 years.
• Worked in building or construction activity for at least 90 days in the preceding 12 months.
• Registration kept alive through renewal.

Conditions specific to this benefit:

• The worker's membership with the Welfare Board must be active at the time of application.
• The worker must have at least a two-month subscription with the Board.
• The benefit applies to the birth of up to two daughters of the registered worker.

You are not eligible if:

• You are a construction worker who never registered with HPBOCWWB. Doing construction work alone does not create the entitlement.
• Your membership has lapsed because renewal or the required subscription was not maintained.
• You have less than two months of subscription with the Board when you apply.
• The claim is for a third or later daughter. Two daughters is the ceiling.
• You are outside the 18 to 60 age band, which means your registration is not valid in the first place.

What documents are required?

Registering the birth with the local municipality or panchayat quickly is worth doing, because the birth certificate is the one document with no substitute in this claim.

How to apply for the Female Child Birth Gift Scheme online

1. Open the Board's portal at bocw.hp.gov.in.
2. Click Apply for Benefits (Apply for Schemes) on the public menu.
3. Enter your beneficiary details and date of birth, then click Search to display your registration record.
4. Select the Female Child Birth Gift Scheme from the list of schemes shown against your record.
5. Fill in the required details of the daughter and upload the documents, including the birth certificate, labour card, identity proof and bank passbook page.
6. Click Submit Application. Keep the acknowledgement; updates are sent to the mobile number registered with the Board.

How to apply offline at the Labour Welfare Office

1. Visit the Labour Welfare Office in your jurisdiction during office hours and ask for the scheme claim form. Forms are also listed on the Downloads page of the Board's portal.
2. Fill in the form completely and attach self-attested copies of the daughter's birth certificate, the labour card, identity proof, age proof and bank passbook front page.
3. Submit the form to the Labour Officer and obtain a dated acknowledgement or receipt.
4. Follow up with the same office for the sanction order and the Fixed Deposit Receipt.

How to register with HPBOCWWB first

1. Ask for the prescribed registration form at the Labour Welfare Office.
2. Fill it in, paste a passport-size photograph and attach self-attested copies of the required documents.
3. Attach a wage slip or appointment letter from the employer proving 90 days of construction work in the last 12 months. Where the employer will not issue one, a certificate from a councillor, executive officer or Panchayat Secretary is accepted.
4. Pay the one-time registration fee and collect the acknowledgement receipt.
5. Keep the card alive by paying the renewal fee and submitting proof of 90 days of work for each qualifying period.

How to check the status of your claim

The Board's portal carries a Check Status page and a Find Beneficiary page. Enter your registration number or beneficiary details to see whether the claim is pending with the dealing office, has been sanctioned or has been returned with a query. Because updates are also pushed to the registered mobile number, keeping the phone number current in the Board record is worth doing at the time of renewal.

Why these claims get held up, and how to fix them

• Membership not active on the application date. Renew first, then file.
• Subscription of less than two months with the Board at the time of the claim.
• Birth certificate not yet issued by the municipality or panchayat. This is the most common delay and it is solved outside the Labour office.
• Name spelling mismatch between the birth certificate, the labour card and the bank record.
• Third daughter claimed. Only two daughters are covered, and the third claim will be rejected on the rule rather than on documents.
• Illegible uploads on the online form, which draw a query and restart the clock.

What else the same registration gets you

Workers often file this claim without realising that the same active registration opens several other benefits listed in the Board's booklet: maternity assistance of Rs 25,000 to a registered woman beneficiary and Rs 6,000 per delivery for up to two deliveries to the wife of a registered worker, paternity assistance of Rs 1,000, marriage assistance of Rs 51,000, annual education assistance from Rs 8,400 to Rs 1,20,000 depending on the course, hostel assistance of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a year, medical assistance up to Rs 5,00,000 for serious illness, Rs 20,000 a year for a mentally challenged or disabled child, and Rs 1,50,000 towards a house sanctioned under the Mukhya Mantri or Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Where to get help

• Board telephone numbers printed in the official welfare booklet: 0177-2629807, 0177-2620256, 0177-2620210, 0177-2625084.
• Labour Officer of your district, the first authority for registration, renewal and claim status.
• HPBOCWWB portal, bocw.hp.gov.in, for online application, status check, renewal and downloads.

No fee is charged for filing a scheme claim, and the Board itself advises workers to confirm the current position of any scheme with their concerned Labour Officer, since rates and conditions are revised by Board resolution.