Mukhyamantri Majdoor Suraksha Yojana, Madhya Pradesh — Accident, Disability and Death Protection for Labourers

Is Mukhyamantri Majdoor Suraksha Yojana a real scheme?

Mukhyamantri Majdoor Suraksha Yojana is a name widely used by labourers in Madhya Pradesh for the state's safety-net cover against death, accident and disability at work. It is worth being direct: the Madhya Pradesh government's own scheme records do not publish a scheme under that exact title. What exists instead is a set of clearly defined protection schemes run by three Labour Department boards, and every benefit a searcher expects from a "majdoor suraksha yojana" is available under one of them.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Labour Department's own page, the department runs four welfare boards: the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Board (Bhopal), the Unorganised Workers Welfare Board (Sambal) (Bhopal), the Labour Welfare Board (Bhopal) and the Slate Pencil Workers Welfare Board (Mandsaur). The first three carry the labourer protection benefits described on this page.

Who is protected, and who is not eligible?

You are covered if you are:

• A registered unorganised worker holding a Sambal card. Sambal eligibility requires that neither you nor your spouse gets provident fund, ESIC or gratuity benefits, that the family holds not more than 1 hectare of agricultural land, that neither of you is in government service, and that neither of you is an income tax payer.
• A construction worker registered with the MP Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Board registration needs an age of 18 to 60 years and at least 90 days of construction work in the previous 12 months, with renewal every 3 years and a fee of Rs 10.
• An unregistered construction worker who dies during work at a construction site. The successor is covered by a dedicated scheme started on 1 October 2017.
• A worker in a factory or establishment defined under the MP Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1982, for discretionary ex-gratia from the Labour Welfare Board.

Who is not eligible

• A worker already drawing EPF, ESIC or gratuity is outside Sambal, because Sambal exists only for workers with no other social security.
• A family holding more than 1 hectare of agricultural land is outside Sambal.
• Government servants and income tax payers, and workers whose spouse falls in either category, cannot register under Sambal.
• A construction worker whose board registration has lapsed cannot claim under the board schemes; the construction accident scheme specifically requires a live registration.
• An unregistered construction worker injured or killed away from the construction site, or not during work, is not covered by the special unregistered-worker scheme.

How much protection is paid?

Sambal 2.0 to Unorganised Workers Welfare Board

Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board; registered workers (scheme started 1 January 2017)

A separate construction accident scheme started on 1 January 2018 states the disability rule in physical terms: Rs 2 lakh where two limbs are lost in a workplace accident, and Rs 1 lakh where one limb is lost.

Unregistered construction workers who die at the site (scheme started 1 October 2017)

Labour Welfare Board — ex-gratia assistance (scheme started 1 January 2018): the Board chairman may sanction Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 from a discretionary quota where financial help is urgently needed, with a decision due within 30 days of the application.

All payments are made by DBT directly into the beneficiary's bank account.

What documents are required?

How to apply for labourer protection benefits

1. Identify the right board first. A Sambal card holder claims on sambal.mp.gov.in. A registered construction worker claims through a Lok Seva Kendra or at mpedistrict.gov.in. A factory or establishment worker approaches the MP Labour Welfare Board.
2. Confirm your registration is live. Construction board registration is valid for a fixed period and renewed every 3 years; the accident scheme record insists on a jeevit panjiyan. A live registration. If it has lapsed, renew before claiming.
3. Collect the event proof. Death certificate for a death claim; FIR copy and post-mortem report for an accidental death; and a permanent disability certificate from the district medical board in the prescribed format for a disability claim.
4. File within the time limit. Construction board death and funeral claims must be filed within 6 months of the death. A Sambal ex-gratia claim must be filed within 180 days of the incident, with the designated officer supported to relax that limit. Sambal funeral assistance is paid immediately and entered on the portal within 7 working days.
5. Submit to the designated officer. In rural areas this is the Chief Executive Officer of the Janpad Panchayat; in urban areas it is the Municipal Commissioner for a corporation, or the Chief Municipal Officer for a municipality or nagar parishad. No fee is charged.
6. Track the case. Sambal claims can be tracked through the "ex-gratia application status" page; construction board claims are tracked through the Lok Seva Kendra acknowledgement on mpedistrict.gov.in. The construction accident scheme records a processing time limit of 30 working days.

Why labourer protection claims fail

• Registration lapsed or never made. The single biggest cause. Apart from the site-death scheme for unregistered workers, every one of these benefits requires a live card.
• Claim filed after the deadline, beyond 6 months for the construction board or 180 days for Sambal.
• Accidental death claimed without an FIR or post-mortem report, which results in settlement at the Rs 2 lakh normal-death rate.
• Disability certificate not from a medical board, or not in the prescribed format.
• No proof that the accident happened during construction work, which is required for the site accident schemes.
• Exclusion triggered under Sambal: more than 1 hectare of land, government service, income tax, or existing EPF/ESIC cover.
• Bank account inactive or not Aadhaar-seeded, so a sanctioned amount fails to credit.

How to raise a grievance

The construction workers board schemes have a formal two-stage appeal recorded against them:

• Rural areas: designated officer is the Janpad Panchayat CEO; first appeal to the Zila Panchayat CEO; second appeal to the Collector.
• Municipal corporations: designated officer is the Commissioner; first appeal to the Collector; second appeal to the Divisional Commissioner.
• Municipalities and nagar parishads: designated officer is the Chief Municipal Officer; first appeal to the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue); second appeal to the Collector.

For Sambal, the appeal against a rejected registration lies with the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) in rural areas and with the Additional or Deputy Collector nominated by the Collector in a municipal corporation, and there is an online appeal service on the portal. For the Labour Welfare Board, the first appellate officer is the Assistant Welfare Commissioner and the second is the Welfare Commissioner, both at Bhopal.

• Sambal helpline: 0755-2700800
• State grievance route: Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline, 181

Every scheme described here records the application fee as nil. No agent is required, and no payment should be made to have a claim registered.