Muhafiz (Guardian) Scheme for Unorganised Sector Workers, Jammu and Kashmir

What is the Muhafiz scheme?

Muhafiz. The word means "guardian": is a social security initiative of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir for unorganised sector workers, delivered through the Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (JKBOCWWB) under the Labour and Employment Department. Muhafiz was conceived as an attempt to give institutionalised socio-economic security to a workforce that ordinarily has none: the daily-wage mason, carpenter, labourer, painter, plumber and helper who works on construction sites with no employer provident fund, no gratuity, no employer insurance and no formal identity as a worker.

Muhafiz bundles three things together for a worker registered with the Welfare Board:

• Insurance, accidental, life and disability cover, with the Board paying the premium, reported at approximately Rs 171 per worker per year. Across the roughly three lakh workers registered with JKBOCWWB, this represented an initial commitment of about Rs 5 crore.
• Educational scholarships for the wards of registered building and other construction workers, so that a labourer's income does not decide whether the child stays in school.
• Micro-credit of up to Rs 10,000 per registered worker, made possible by the Board depositing roughly Rs 30 crore with J&K Bank as a counter-guarantee, which lets the bank lend these small amounts without demanding collateral or a guarantor from the worker.

The financing is worth understanding, because it explains the shape of the scheme. JKBOCWWB is funded not from an annual budget grant but from the cess levied on construction activity under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Cess Act. The Board's corpus grew from about Rs 26.8 crore in 2008-09 to around Rs 600 crore by 2018, and Muhafiz was designed as a way of converting that accumulated cess into actual benefits reaching workers rather than sitting unspent. That is why the scheme's central administrative push has been on registration. The corpus exists, and the constraint is that workers are not enrolled to claim against it.

Who is eligible for Muhafiz?

You are covered if:

• You work in the construction and building trades or another unorganised sector occupation covered by the Board in Jammu and Kashmir.
• You are registered with the Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and your registration is live.
• You meet the age and days-of-work conditions prescribed for registration under the construction workers legislation, established by a certificate from the employer, contractor or registering officer.
• You hold a bank account in your own name for the credit and benefit transfers.
• You have recorded a nominee with the Board, which is what makes a life or accident claim payable.

Who cannot claim:

• Unregistered workers cannot claim anything under Muhafiz. A person who has worked on construction sites for twenty years but never registered with the Welfare Board is outside the scheme. Registration is the gateway, not a formality.
• Workers whose Board registration has lapsed are not eligible until it is renewed, because the insurance premium is paid by the Board against live registrations.
• Employers, contractors and builders are not beneficiaries. They are the parties who pay the cess that funds the Board.
• Salaried employees in the organised sector, who are covered by EPF and ESI, are not the intended beneficiaries of a construction workers' welfare board scheme.
• Workers outside Jammu and Kashmir must register with the welfare board of the state where they work.
• A claim without a recorded nominee cannot be settled to the family without substantial additional legal proof, which in practice defeats the purpose of the cover.

What documents are required for Muhafiz?

Registration with the Welfare Board is the step that carries the document burden. A worker needs Aadhaar, proof of employment as a construction worker from the employer, contractor or registering officer, age proof, residence proof in Jammu and Kashmir, a bank passbook in the worker's own name, passport-size photographs, and nominee details with the nominee's identity proof.

The two documents workers most often lack are the employment certificate and the nominee record. For the first, the registering officer of the Labour Department can certify a worker's employment where a contractor will not; ask at the office rather than abandoning the registration. For the second, record a nominee at the time of registration and update it after a marriage or a death in the family, a life or accident claim that reaches the Board without a nominee on record is the single most common reason a bereaved family waits months for money.

For the scholarship component, add the child's school or college admission proof, marksheets and fee record when the claim is made.

How to apply for Muhafiz benefits

Muhafiz is not applied for separately. Registration with the Welfare Board is the application, the benefits follow the registration.

1. Register as a building and other construction worker with JKBOCWWB. The Board facilitates registration through online and other modes, and applications are also received at Labour Department and Labour Commissioner offices in the districts.
2. Submit the registration documents — Aadhaar, employment proof, age proof, residence proof, bank passbook, photographs and nominee details, and pay the nominal registration and contribution amounts prescribed under the Board's rules.
3. Collect your Welfare Board registration card and keep it safe. It is the document that establishes your entitlement to every benefit that follows, including the insurance cover whose premium the Board pays on your behalf.
4. Keep the registration live. Renew it when due, because the insurance premium is paid against current registrations and a lapsed card breaks the cover.
5. Claim the specific benefit when the occasion arises. For a scholarship, submit the child's academic documents with the claim form to the Board or the district Labour office. For micro-credit, approach the J&K Bank branch with the registration card and the Board's reference. For an insurance claim, the worker or the nominee files with the Board, which routes it to the insurer.

How do I check the status of a Muhafiz registration or claim?

Follow it at the district Labour Officer or Labour Commissioner's office where the registration was filed, quoting the registration number on the card or the acknowledgement number from the online submission. The Board's district functionaries maintain the register of workers and of pending claims.

For an insurance claim, ask specifically which insurer the case has been forwarded to and on what date, and note that down. Claims under group covers of this kind are settled by the insurer, not by the Board, and a claim that is sitting with the Board undespatched is a different problem from one pending with the insurer.

For micro-credit, the J&K Bank branch holds the loan file, and the Board's counter-guarantee arrangement is what the branch relies on to sanction without collateral.

Why do Muhafiz claims fail?

• The worker was never registered, or registration had lapsed at the time of the incident.
• No nominee on record, which stalls a death or accident claim.
• Employment proof was weak, so the registration itself was refused.
• Mismatch between Aadhaar, bank account and the Board record in name or date of birth, which stops the money even after a claim is admitted.
• Bank account not active, so credits bounce.
• Documents for the scholarship claim incomplete, an admission letter without fee proof, or marksheets from a different academic year.

Most of these are curable, and a refused registration in particular is worth pursuing rather than abandoning, since every Muhafiz benefit hangs on it.

Where do I raise a Muhafiz grievance?

1. The district Labour Officer or the registering officer with whom the registration was filed, the first point for a registration or claim that is not moving.
2. The Labour Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir, for an unresolved district-level grievance.
3. The Jammu and Kashmir Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, which sanctions the benefits and holds the corpus.
4. The Deputy Commissioner's public grievance cell in the district, which hears workers' grievances alongside other welfare cases.

Key facts about Muhafiz

• Meaning of the name: Muhafiz: "guardian".
• Run by: J&K Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Labour and Employment Department.
• Covered: construction and unorganised sector workers registered with the Board; around three lakh at launch.
• Insurance: accidental, life and disability cover, premium of about Rs 171 per worker per year paid by the Board, an initial outlay of about Rs 5 crore.
• Micro-credit: up to Rs 10,000 per registered worker, backed by about Rs 30 crore deposited with J&K Bank as counter-guarantee.
• Scholarships: for the children of registered construction workers.
• Funding source: cess collected under the Building and Other Construction Workers Cess Act; the Board's corpus stood at roughly Rs 600 crore in 2018.
• Entry condition: live registration with the Welfare Board.
• Cost to the worker: the insurance premium is paid by the Board; only the prescribed registration and contribution amounts apply.