Karnataka BOCW Marriage Assistance Scheme

What is the Karnataka BOCW Marriage Assistance Scheme?

Karnataka BOCW Marriage Assistance Scheme is a one-time cash benefit paid by the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, an autonomous board under the Karnataka Labour Department. The Board is funded by the 1% cess collected on the cost of construction across the state under the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996, and it spends that money only on workers registered with it.

According to the Board's scheme page, marriage assistance is granted under Rule 49 of the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules. The grant is Rs 60,000 for one marriage, paid as a single amount into the registered worker's bank account. Workers in Karnataka often refer to the benefit in Kannada as maduve dhanasahaya, and it is one of the most-claimed items in the Board's welfare list along with maternity benefit and education assistance.

The benefit exists because a wedding is the single largest one-time expense most construction families face. Masons, carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, bar-benders, centring workers and helpers who work on daily wages usually meet that expense with a private loan. Rs 60,000 from the Board is intended to reduce that borrowing rather than pay for the entire event.

Key features

• Amount: Rs 60,000 per marriage, one-time, not recurring.
• Claimable for the worker's own marriage or the marriage of up to 2 dependent children.
• A family can use the benefit a maximum of 2 times.
• Only one claim per marriage, irrespective of how many people in that family hold a Board card.
• Paid by direct bank transfer after approval by the Labour Officer.

Who is eligible for Karnataka BOCW marriage assistance?

You can claim if:

• You are a registered beneficiary of the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and your registration is live, not lapsed.
• At least 1 year has passed between your date of registration and the date of the marriage.
• The claim is for your own marriage or for the marriage of a dependent son or daughter, and not more than 2 children in total.
• The bride and groom have both reached the legal age of marriage to 21 years for the groom and 18 years for the bride.
• The marriage is registered and you hold the Registrar's marriage certificate.
• Your family has not already used the benefit twice.
• You have worked as a construction worker for at least 90 days in the preceding year, the standard condition for continued Board membership.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the Karnataka BOCW Welfare Board, or your membership has lapsed because the annual contribution or renewal was not paid. Registration is the gateway; there is no route into this scheme for an unregistered worker or for a construction worker registered in another state.
• Your registration is less than 1 year old on the date of the marriage.
• The claim is for a third child's marriage, or your family has already drawn the grant twice.
• The claim is for a second marriage of the same person.
• Another registered worker in the same family has already claimed for the same wedding.
• You are filing more than 6 months after the marriage date.
• You work in a sector outside building and other construction work, a factory worker, agricultural labourer or domestic worker is not eligible under this Board, although other Karnataka welfare boards cover those trades.

What documents are required for the marriage assistance claim?

Carry originals to the Karmika Seva Kendra for verification even when you upload scanned copies; the Labour Inspector is entitled to see them.

How to apply for Karnataka BOCW marriage assistance

1. Check that your Board registration is active and older than 1 year. If the renewal is pending, pay it at the Karmika Seva Kendra before filing the claim, because a lapsed card stops the application at the first verification stage.
2. Get the marriage registered at the office of the Sub-Registrar or the local body and collect the marriage certificate. This document, not the invitation, is what the Board treats as proof.
3. Open the Karnataka BOCW Welfare Board portal at karbwwb.karnataka.gov.in and go to the Schemes section, or log in to the Board's KB&OCWWB software with your registration number. Seva Sindhu also routes Labour Department service requests to the same back-end.
4. Select Marriage Assistance (Rule 49) and fill in the worker's registration number, the names of the bride and groom, the date of marriage and the bank account details.
5. Upload the scanned documents listed above, identity card, employment certificate, marriage certificate, invitation card, ration card, age proof and bank passbook.
6. Submit the application within 6 months of the marriage and save the acknowledgement number shown on the screen.
7. Attend verification. The Senior Labour Inspector or Labour Inspector checks the documents and the field record, then forwards the file.
8. Wait for the Labour Officer's approval. Once sanctioned, Rs 60,000 is credited to the registered bank account.

How to apply offline at a Karmika Seva Kendra

1. Visit the Karmika Seva Kendra or the district or taluk Labour Office covering your area with all original documents and one photocopy set.
2. Ask for the marriage assistance claim form under Rule 49 and fill it in, or have the operator fill it for you.
3. Submit the form with the attested copies and collect a dated acknowledgement. Do not leave without it — the acknowledgement is what you quote in every follow-up.
4. Follow up with the Labour Inspector for your circle if there is no movement within a month.

The Board's head office is at Karmika Bhavan, Dairy Circle, Bengaluru 560029, and each district has a labour office that accepts these claims.

How do you check the status of a marriage assistance claim?

Log in to the Board's software with your registration number and open the claim using the acknowledgement number to see the current stage: submitted, under inspector verification, pending with the Labour Officer, sanctioned or rejected. The Labour Department's Sakala service delivery framework also issues a Sakala acknowledgement number for labour welfare services, which can be tracked on the Sakala portal. If the online record has not moved for several weeks, call 155214 with the acknowledgement number, or visit the district labour office where your file sits.

Payment reaches the bank account by direct transfer. If the sanction shows as approved but no money has arrived, the usual cause is a frozen, closed or non-Aadhaar-seeded bank account rather than a problem with the sanction itself.

Why are marriage assistance claims rejected?

• Registration less than a year old on the wedding date. This is the most common single reason and cannot be cured after the fact.
• Lapsed membership; annual renewal not paid, so the card is inactive.
• Claim filed after 6 months from the date of marriage.
• No registered marriage certificate, only an invitation or a temple receipt.
• Duplicate claim; another registered worker in the same household already filed for the same wedding.
• Family limit exhausted, the benefit having already been drawn twice.
• Bank details mismatch between the account name and the Board record.
• Employment certificate missing or unsigned, so the 90-day work condition cannot be verified.

Most of these are fixable before submission. Confirm the registration date on your card, register the marriage promptly, and file well inside the six months rather than at the edge of the window.

Where do you complain if the claim is stuck?

• Board helpline: 155214 for scheme and claim queries.
• District Labour Officer, who is the sanctioning authority for these claims.
• Deputy Labour Commissioner of the division for an appeal against a rejection or a delay beyond the Sakala timeline.
• Karnataka BOCW Welfare Board head office, Karmika Bhavan, Dairy Circle, Bengaluru 560029, for written grievances.

Applying is free at every stage. No fee is payable to any official, agent or middleman for registering as a construction worker or for filing a marriage assistance claim.