Cycle Sahayata Yojana (Jharkhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board)

What is Cycle Sahayata Yojana?

Cycle Sahayata Yojana is a welfare scheme of the Jharkhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (JBOCWWB), which sits under the Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development. The scheme transfers Rs 3,500 into a registered construction worker's bank account so that the worker can buy a bicycle.

The reason a bicycle scheme exists for construction workers is simple and specific to how the trade works. A mason, a helper or a bar-bender rarely works at one site for long. Work moves every few weeks to a different mohalla, a different village, sometimes a different block. Daily transport costs eat into a daily wage, and a worker without transport takes only the work within walking distance. A cycle changes the radius of jobs a worker can take.

Cycle Sahayata Yojana, written in Hindi as साइकिल सहायता योजना, is one item in a larger set of JBOCWWB schemes funded from the cess collected on construction work in the state. Its siblings include a safety kit worth Rs 1,000, a tool kit worth Rs 2,500, accident and disability grants of up to Rs 5 lakh, maternity and medical assistance, and education scholarships for workers' children. All of them are gated by the same thing: registration with the welfare board.

Key facts

• Amount: Rs 3,500, credited to the worker's own account.
• Route: Direct Benefit Transfer. No bicycle is issued at a counter.
• Condition: one year of completed registration with contributions paid.
• Age window: women 18 to 45, men 18 and above.
• Portal: shramadhan.jharkhand.gov.in, the state's comprehensive labour management system.

Who is eligible for Cycle Sahayata Yojana?

A worker qualifies if:

• The worker is registered with the Jharkhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and holds a valid labour card.
• One year has been completed since registration.
• The annual contribution has been paid, so the registration is live and not lapsed.
• The worker is a woman aged between 18 and 45, or a man aged 18 or above.
• The worker is engaged in building or other construction work in Jharkhand as defined under the BOCW Act.

To be registered with the board in the first place, a worker must be aged between 18 and 60 and must have worked at least 90 days as a building or construction worker in the preceding twelve months. That 90-day condition is the gateway to the entire welfare board system, not only to this scheme.

A worker cannot apply, or is not eligible, if:

• The worker is not registered with JBOCWWB.
• The registration is less than one year old.
• The contribution has not been paid and the registration has lapsed. A lapsed card has to be renewed before any claim is entertained.
• The applicant is a woman above 45 years of age.
• The applicant is below 18 years.
• The applicant is not a building or construction worker, the board's remit covers construction trades, not all manual labour.
• The applicant works in Jharkhand but is registered with another state's welfare board, since benefits cannot be drawn twice for the same worker.

What documents are required?

Keep the contribution receipt carefully. Most rejections under welfare board schemes turn on a lapsed contribution rather than on anything to do with the scheme itself.

How to apply for Cycle Sahayata Yojana online

1. Open shramadhan.jharkhand.gov.in, the Comprehensive Labour Management System of the Jharkhand labour department.
2. Log in with your labour card registration number and the password created at registration. If you have not registered yet, complete worker registration first and wait until one year of membership is complete.
3. Check that your contribution status shows as paid on your dashboard. If it is pending, pay it before proceeding. A claim filed on a lapsed card will be rejected.
4. Select Cycle Sahayata Yojana from the list of welfare board schemes available to registered workers.
5. Fill the claim form, entering your bank account number and IFSC exactly as printed in the passbook, and confirm your age and category.
6. Upload the scanned documents — labour card, Aadhaar, bank passbook page, photograph and contribution receipt.
7. Submit and note the application number shown on the confirmation screen. Save or print the acknowledgement.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the circle labour office and meet the Labour Enforcement Officer, or go to the district labour office and meet the Labour Superintendent.
2. Ask for the Cycle Sahayata Yojana claim form and fill it in.
3. Attach self-attested copies of the labour card, contribution receipt, Aadhaar, bank passbook page and a photograph, and carry the originals for verification.
4. Submit the form and collect a dated acknowledgement with the receipt number.

The Labour Enforcement Officer at circle level and the Labour Superintendent at district level are the officers the department itself names for construction worker queries, so those are the right desks to approach.

How to check your application and payment status

1. Log in to shramadhan.jharkhand.gov.in and open the application status section for your claim number.
2. Visit the circle or district labour office with the acknowledgement receipt, if the claim was filed offline.
3. Check the bank passbook for the Rs 3,500 DBT credit. Update the passbook at the branch rather than relying on SMS, since many workers' accounts are not linked to a mobile number.

The Shramadhan portal also publishes district-wise scheme data, so a worker can see whether payments under the scheme are being released in their district at all; useful when a claim has been pending for months.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• Registration less than one year old. Wait until the year is complete and reapply; there is no relaxation.
• Contribution lapsed. Pay the outstanding contribution to make the labour card live, then file a fresh claim.
• Age outside the window. Women above 45 are outside the scheme's age band. This is a condition of the scheme, not a document problem.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails and returns to the board. Complete seeding at your bank branch and update the portal.
• Name mismatch between the labour card, Aadhaar and the bank passbook. Correct the records so all three read the same.
• Wrong IFSC or a closed account. Check the passbook, particularly if your bank has merged with another and the IFSC has changed.
• Not actually a construction worker. The board covers building and construction trades. Workers in other sectors have to look at the schemes of the relevant board instead.

How this fits with the other JBOCWWB schemes

A registered worker in Jharkhand is entitled to more than the cycle assistance, and it is worth claiming the set rather than one item. The safety kit scheme gives Rs 1,000 towards a helmet, safety shoes and gloves. The tool kit scheme gives Rs 2,500 towards trade tools. Nishaktata Pension Yojana pays Rs 1,000 a month plus a one-time Rs 10,000 to a worker permanently disabled by paralysis, leprosy, tuberculosis or an accident. Accident and disability grants run up to Rs 5 lakh. Education scholarships, maternity assistance and medical assistance are also available. Every one of them depends on the same registration and the same live contribution.

Where to get help

• Labour Enforcement Officer at your circle, the first point of contact for a construction worker's claim.
• Labour Superintendent at the district labour office, for escalation.
• Shramadhan portal, shramadhan.jharkhand.gov.in, for registration, contribution payment and claim tracking.
• Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development, Government of Jharkhand, for grievances the district does not settle.

Registration and claims are free. The only payment a worker makes is the annual contribution, and that is paid against a receipt. If anybody asks for a commission out of the Rs 3,500, report it to the Labour Superintendent.