Financial Assistance to 75% or Permanent Disability (Maharashtra Construction Workers)

What is the Financial Assistance to 75% or Permanent Disability scheme?

Financial Assistance to 75% or Permanent Disability is a welfare benefit of the Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, the statutory board set up under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and functioning under the Labour Department, Government of Maharashtra. The board is funded by a cess collected on construction cost across the state, and it spends that cess only on registered construction workers and their families.

According to the board's welfare schemes page on mahabocw.in, the scheme pays a one-time Rs 2,00,000 to a registered construction worker who is certified with 75 per cent disability or permanent disability. The scheme is listed under the board's health care group of benefits, alongside the Rs 1,00,000 girl child fixed deposit and the annual health check-up. Payment is made by Direct Benefit Transfer into the worker's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account.

The reason the benefit exists is straightforward. A construction worker earns from physical labour on a site. A disability at 75 per cent or above generally ends that earning capacity permanently, and the family has no pension to fall back on. Rs 2,00,000 is not a replacement income, but it is intended to cover the immediate cost of treatment, aids and the shift to some other livelihood.

Who is eligible for the 75% disability assistance?

You can claim if:

• You are registered with the Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board and your registration is live.
• You hold a certificate from a competent medical officer or a medical board showing 75 per cent disability or permanent disability.
• You were between 18 and 60 years of age at the time of registration with the board, which is the board's registration age band.
• You had worked as a building or other construction worker for at least 90 days in the preceding 12 months at the time you registered, this is the core registration condition and it carries into every benefit.
• You are resident in Maharashtra and hold an Aadhaar-linked bank account.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the board. Registration is the gateway to every scheme the board runs, and there is no route by which an unregistered worker can claim Rs 2,00,000 directly.
• Your registration has lapsed because renewal was not filed. A lapsed card must be renewed before a claim will be processed.
• Your disability is certified below 75 per cent and is not a permanent disability.
• You are an employer, contractor or supervisor rather than a manual construction worker. The board covers workers engaged in building and other construction work, not those who employ them.
• You worked in construction but in a state other than Maharashtra and are registered with that state's board. Each state board pays its own registered members.

How much does the scheme pay and how is it paid?

The benefit is a single lump sum of Rs 2,00,000. It is not an annuity, not a monthly pension, and it is not paid in instalments. Once the district labour office and the board's medical scrutiny clear the certificate, the amount is released through DBT to the bank account recorded in the worker's profile.

It is worth seeing this figure in the context of the board's other payouts, because a family often qualifies for more than one:

A worker who survives a serious site accident with permanent disability claims the Rs 2,00,000 disability benefit. If the same worker later dies, the family's claim shifts to the death and funeral benefits, which are separate heads.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the 75% disability assistance online

1. Open iwbms.mahabocw.in, the board's integrated welfare benefit management system linked from mahabocw.in, and log in to your construction worker profile using your registration number and registered mobile number.
2. Confirm that your registration shows as active. If it has lapsed, complete the online renewal first, a claim filed against a lapsed registration will not move forward.
3. Open the claims / apply online menu and select the health care benefit for 75% or permanent disability.
4. Fill in the claim form with your disability percentage, the date and issuing authority of your certificate, and your bank details exactly as they appear in your passbook.
5. Upload scanned copies of the disability certificate, medical treatment receipts, Aadhaar, bank passbook and registration card. Keep each file legible — a blurred certificate is the most common cause of a return.
6. Submit the claim and save the acknowledgement number shown on screen.
7. Track the claim from the same login. The status moves through district labour office scrutiny before the board sanctions payment.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the district labour office or the board's local Government Labour Officer, whichever handles construction worker claims in your district.
2. Ask for the claim form for the disability benefit and fill it in, or use the assistance desk if you cannot write in Marathi.
3. Attach self-attested copies of the disability certificate, treatment bills, registration card, Aadhaar, bank passbook and residence proof, and carry the originals for verification.
4. Submit the file and collect a dated receipt. Keep it, it is your only proof of the date of filing if the claim is later queried.

Facilitation help is also available at the Suvidha Kendra counters and at district collectorate labour desks in several districts. Do not pay a private agent to file this claim.

How to check your claim status

1. Log in to your worker profile at iwbms.mahabocw.in.
2. Open the claims tab and read the status against your acknowledgement number.
3. If the status has not changed for several weeks, call the board helpdesk on 1800-8892-816 between 10:00 and 18:00, or write to support@mahabocw.in quoting your registration number.

Why disability claims get rejected, and how to fix it

• Certificate not from a competent authority. A note from a private hospital is not enough. Get the certificate from the civil surgeon's medical board.
• Disability certified below 75 per cent. The scheme has a hard threshold; a 60 per cent certificate does not qualify for this particular head.
• Registration lapsed. Renew first, then refile the claim.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so DBT fails and the payment bounces back.
• Name mismatch between the Aadhaar record, the bank account and the board registration. Correct the record at the source before refiling.
• Missing treatment receipts. The board's document list asks for proof of medical treatment payments as well as the certificate.

Where to go for help or to raise a grievance

• Toll-free helpdesk: 1800-8892-816, 10:00 to 18:00
• Board office: (022) 2657-2631 / (022) 2657-2632
• Email: support@mahabocw.in or bocwwboardmaha@gmail.com
• Address: Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, 5th Floor, MMTC House, Plot C-22, E-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400051
• District route: the Government Labour Officer or Assistant Labour Commissioner for your district

An unresolved grievance can be escalated to the Labour Department, Government of Maharashtra, which administers the board. Registration and claim filing are both free of any agent fee, and no board official will ask a worker for money or for an OTP to release a claim.