Viswakarma Pension

What is the Viswakarma Pension scheme?

Viswakarma Pension is a welfare pension paid by the Backward Classes Development Department (BCDD), Government of Kerala, to elderly artisans of the traditional Viswakarma communities. The department's own description of the scheme is short and precise: pension given to traditional Viswakarma communities above the age of sixty, with an annual family income ceiling of Rs 1 lakh.

The monthly amount is Rs 1,100. The scheme is charged to head of account 2225-03-102-96 (Non Plan), which places it among BCDD's continuing welfare commitments rather than its annual plan schemes.

The Viswakarma group is one of Kerala's traditional artisan communities, listed in the state's Other Backward Classes list and historically associated with the crafts of carpentry, blacksmithy, goldsmithy, bronze-smithy and stone sculpture. Kerala's state OBC list, published on the BCDD website, is the authority on which sub-groups fall within the Viswakarma entry, and the Village Officer's community certificate is what the department reads when deciding this question.

Viswakarma Pension exists because these are trades in which a worker's income ends when the hands can no longer work. There is no employer, no provident fund and, for most such artisans, no service pension. BCDD's scheme fills that gap with a modest, regular monthly transfer. The department runs it alongside other development schemes for the same population. The Toolkit Grant for traditional handicrafts experts, assistance to traditional pottery makers, the barbershop renovation grant and the advocate grant, from its directorate at Ayyankali Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.

Who is eligible for Viswakarma Pension?

The Backward Classes Development Department publishes three conditions, and all three must hold:

• Age: the applicant must have completed 60 years. The department's eligibility line reads, "60 years completed Viswakarmas can apply."
• Community: the applicant must belong to a traditional Viswakarma community of Kerala, as certified by the Village Officer with reference to the state OBC list.
• Income: the annual family income must not exceed Rs 1 lakh, proved by a Village Officer's income certificate.

To these, the department's standing practice adds that the applicant must be a resident of Kerala and must have a bank account in their own name, because payment is made by transfer rather than in cash.

Who cannot apply

• Anyone below 60 years of age on the date of application is not eligible, however long they have worked in the trade.
• Anyone whose annual family income crosses Rs 1 lakh is not eligible. The ceiling is on family income, not on the applicant's personal earnings, so the incomes of family members counted in the certificate matter.
• Anyone outside the Viswakarma communities is not eligible. Other OBC artisans have their own BCDD schemes; potters, for instance, are covered by the assistance to traditional pottery makers.
• Applicants who cannot produce a community certificate from the Village Officer will not clear verification, since the department does not accept self-declaration of community.
• Applicants already drawing another government pension should confirm their position before applying; Kerala's welfare pension rules generally bar the drawal of more than one such pension.

How to apply for Viswakarma Pension

BCDD uses a two-step process. An online form, then a physical submission. Both steps are compulsory; an online application whose printout never reaches the directorate does not get processed.

1. Collect the certificates first. Obtain the community certificate and the income certificate from your Village Officer, and keep the Aadhaar card, ration card and bank passbook ready. Getting these after starting the form usually means the application lapses.
2. Open the online portal at eep.bcdd.kerala.gov.in/vps. This is the department's e-services address for the Viswakarma Pension module. If it shows a not-found page, applications are not open in that cycle — call 0471 2727378 to ask when the next window opens.
3. Fill the application with your name, age, address, community, the traditional trade you follow, family income and bank account details, exactly as they appear on the certificates. A mismatch between the form and the certificates is the commonest cause of rejection.
4. Take a printout of the submitted application and sign it.
5. Attach self-attested copies of the age proof, community certificate, income certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook and any local body certificate of your traditional occupation.
6. Submit the set to the Director, Backward Classes Development Department, Ayyankali Bhavan, 4th Floor, Kanakanagar, Vellayambalam, Kawdiar P.O., Thiruvananthapuram – 695003, by post or in person, within the date given in the notification.

If you are not comfortable with the online form, an Akshaya centre or a common service facility can complete the online step for you; you still have to send the signed printout and enclosures to the directorate yourself.

What else BCDD offers the same households

Viswakarma Pension covers the artisan after 60. Younger members of the same households have other doors in the department. The Toolkit Grant for traditional handicrafts experts gives up to Rs 25,000, including training, to buy modern tools. Assistance to traditional pottery makers and the renovation of Kumbara colonies serve potter families. The self-employment grant for professionals, the advocate grant and the Career in Private Industry scheme support qualified young people from backward communities, and BCDD's education wing runs OBC pre-matric and post-matric scholarships, the overseas scholarship and financial assistance for competitive examination coaching. All of them are listed under Schemes on bcdd.kerala.gov.in and all of them turn on the same two certificates, community and income.

How the application is processed

BCDD verifies each application against the notification's conditions, age, community, income, and cross-checks the certificates with the issuing Village Office where necessary. Approved applicants are placed on the pension roll and the monthly amount of Rs 1,100 is credited to the bank account given in the application. Because the pension is paid by transfer, an account that is dormant, closed or not seeded with Aadhaar will cause the credit to fail even after sanction.

The department publishes its notifications, application forms, beneficiary lists and government orders in the Downloads section of bcdd.kerala.gov.in. Applicants should check the beneficiary list for their name and, where a draft list is published, raise objections within the period allowed.

Why Viswakarma Pension applications get rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 1 lakh, or an income certificate older than the period the notification accepts.
• No community certificate, or a certificate naming a community that does not fall within the Viswakarma entry in the state OBC list.
• Age not completed on the reference date in the notification.
• The printout never submitted. An online application that is not followed by the physical file at the directorate remains incomplete.
• Bank details wrong. A wrong IFSC, an account in a relative's name or an account that has been closed stops payment even after sanction.
• Applying outside the notified window. The department accepts applications only when a call is open.

Key dates

Viswakarma Pension has no permanent open window. BCDD issues a notification, opens the online module and fixes a last date for each round; the notification PDF is published on the department's website. Before starting an application, check the Notifications page under Downloads at bcdd.kerala.gov.in, or telephone the directorate.

Help and contact

Directorate of Backward Classes Development Department, Ayyankali Bhavan, 4th Floor, Kanakanagar, Vellayambalam, Kawdiar P.O., Thiruvananthapuram – 695003. Telephone 0471 2727378. Email bcddkerala@gmail.com. Grievances about a rejected application, a missing name in the beneficiary list or an unpaid instalment should be addressed in writing to the Director at the same address; the department also handles requests under the Right to Information Act and the Kerala State Right to Service Act through its public information officer.