Disability Pension, Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board

What is the MBOCWWB Disability Pension?

Disability Pension of the Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (MBOCWWB) is a monthly payment of Rs 150 to a registered construction worker who has become permanently disabled. The Board is a statutory body constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and works under the Labour Department, Government of Meghalaya, from the Office of the Secretary at Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001. Workers across the state know it simply as the BOCW Board.

According to the Board's schemes page, the rule reads that the Board may sanction an amount of Rs 150 per mensem as disability pension to a beneficiary who is permanently disabled due to paralysis, leprosy, T.B., accident etc., and that in addition to this pension the worker will be eligible for an ex-gratia payment of not more than Rs 5,000 depending upon the percentage of disability and subject to such conditions as the Board may fix. The application for both the pension and the ex-gratia is made in Form No. XXXVII with the certificates and documents the Board specifies.

Two things are worth reading carefully in that rule. First, the trigger is permanent disability, not a temporary injury, a broken arm that heals is dealt with under Medical Assistance, not here. Second, the listed causes are not limited to workplace accidents. Paralysis, leprosy and tuberculosis are disease-driven disabilities, and the rule's "etc." leaves the Board discretion over other permanent conditions. This is unusual among construction workers' welfare boards, many of which restrict disability pensions to accidents arising in the course of employment.

Disability Pension is one of three pension benefits the Board runs. The others are the welfare pension of Rs 150 a month for members aged 60 and over with at least one year in the fund, which rises by Rs 10 for every completed year of service beyond five years, and family pension, paid to a surviving spouse at 50 per cent of the pension the pensioner drew or Rs 100, whichever is higher. The fund behind all of them is built from the cess levied on construction works in Meghalaya and the members' Rs 5 monthly subscriptions.

Who is eligible for the MBOCWWB Disability Pension?

A worker is eligible if:

• The worker is a registered beneficiary of the MBOCWWB fund holding the photo identity card issued by the Deputy Labour Commissioner.
• The worker is permanently disabled, the Board names paralysis, leprosy, tuberculosis and accident among the causes.
• The disability is certified by the Chief Medical Officer, with the percentage of disability stated, because the ex-gratia is fixed on it.
• The worker holds a DMNHO certificate, which the Board lists among the required documents.
• All monthly subscriptions are paid up, the Board asks for challans or receipts of all of the monthly subscriptions, not merely the last one.

Registration is the gate. Under the Board's enrolment rules a worker must be more than 18 years and less than 60 years of age and must have worked 90 days in a year as a construction worker. The one-time registration fee is Rs 10 and the subscription is Rs 5 a month. The Board's FAQ page names a colour passport photograph, an employer certificate confirming the 90 days of work, and a birth certificate for age proof as the enrolment documents.

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

• The worker is not registered with the MBOCWWB. Enrolment cannot be done retrospectively to cover a disability that has already occurred.
• The disability is temporary — a fracture or an illness expected to resolve falls under Medical Assistance instead.
• The subscriptions are in arrears, until the arrears are cleared, since the Board asks for receipts of all subscriptions paid.
• The claim is made by a family member for their own disability. The rule attaches the pension to the beneficiary of the fund, meaning the registered worker.
• The worker is a member of another welfare fund, which the Board's enrolment declaration rules out.

What documents are required for the disability pension claim?

Submit attested photocopies and retain the originals of the medical papers. The percentage of disability is the single number that decides the size of the ex-gratia within the Rs 5,000 ceiling, so it is worth checking that the certificate states it in figures rather than in general words such as "severely disabled".

How to apply for the MBOCWWB Disability Pension

1. Check that your registration is live, that the identity card is current and the Rs 5 monthly subscriptions are paid. Clear arrears at your district labour office and collect receipts for the whole period first.
2. Get the medical certificate from the Chief Medical Officer, certifying that the disability is permanent and stating the percentage of disability.
3. Obtain the DMNHO certificate from the District Medical and Health Officer, which the Board lists separately from the CMO certificate.
4. Assemble the treatment bills, countersigned by the treating doctor, as proof of the amount spent.
5. Download Form No. XXXVII from the schemes page on megbocwwb.gov.in, or collect it from your district labour office.
6. Fill in the form with your registration number, the nature and cause of the disability, the certified percentage, and your bank account details, and state clearly that you are claiming both the monthly pension and the ex-gratia.
7. Submit the application to the Secretary, Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001, or through your district labour office, and collect the acknowledgement.

To claim online instead, open the BOCW Online Portal linked from megbocwwb.gov.in and log in with your registered account. Disability pension is one of the benefits a registered worker can apply for online, alongside cash awards, death benefit, educational scholarships, family pension, funeral benefit, instrument grants, marriage assistance, maternity support, medical benefit and welfare pension. The medical certificates and subscription receipts still have to be produced for verification.

How does the Board decide the claim?

The Board's pension procedure, written for the welfare pension and applied to pension claims generally, sets out four steps that a disability pension applicant should know. The application goes to the Secretary of the Board or an officer authorised by him. If that officer is satisfied the applicant is eligible, a pension sanctioning order is issued and sent to the applicant. No application may be rejected unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard. And where an application is rejected, the applicant is informed, and may appeal to the Board within 60 days of receiving the order, with the Board supported to condone a delay of up to one year for sufficient reason recorded in writing. The sanctioning authority maintains a register of pensions in Form No. XXXV.

How do you check the status of a disability pension claim?

The Board does not publish a self-service online tracker for benefit claims. The practical routes are:

• Call the Board office on 0364 2501224 with your registration number and the date the claim was filed.
• Email mbocwwb-meg[at]gov[dot]in with the same details.
• Visit your district labour office, where the Deputy Labour Commissioner acts as Registering Officer, or speak to the Labour Inspector for your area, whom the Board's FAQ names as the first point of contact.

Once sanctioned, watch the passbook for the monthly Rs 150 credit; the ex-gratia appears as a separate one-time entry.

Why disability pension claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• Subscription arrears. The Board asks for challans of all monthly subscriptions, so a gap anywhere in the record stalls the file. Clear the arrears and get a consolidated receipt.
• Disability not certified as permanent. A certificate describing a healing injury will not carry the claim. Ask the Chief Medical Officer to record permanence explicitly.
• Percentage of disability missing. Without it the ex-gratia cannot be fixed within the Rs 5,000 ceiling and the file goes back.
• DMNHO certificate not attached. It is separately listed and is often the document applicants overlook.
• Treatment bills not countersigned by the doctor. The Board's wording asks for bills countersigned by the doctor, not loose cash memos.
• Name or age mismatch between the identity card, the medical certificate and the bank passbook. Correct at source, or attach a certificate from the local headman or village authority explaining the variation.

Where the claim is refused, use the 60-day appeal to the Board rather than filing a fresh application, because the appeal carries the existing record with it.

What are the key dates and figures?

Disability Pension has no annual window and no last date to apply; the claim follows the event. The fixed figures are the Rs 150 per month pension, the Rs 5,000 ceiling on the ex-gratia, the 60-day appeal window with delay condonable up to one year, the Rs 10 one-time registration fee and the Rs 5 monthly subscription. Registration itself is open only between 18 and 60 years of age to workers with 90 days of construction work in a year, so enrolling early matters far more than filing quickly.

Where do you raise a grievance?

• Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Office of the Secretary, Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001
• Phone: 0364 2501224
• Email: mbocwwb-meg[at]gov[dot]in
• Appeal to the Board within 60 days of an adverse order, under the Board's own pension rules
• Deputy Labour Commissioner / district labour office, and the Labour Inspector for your area
• Labour Department, Government of Meghalaya, which houses the office of the Labour Commissioner

The Board publishes RTI provisions on its website, so a written RTI application is available where a claim has been pending unreasonably long. The only charges in this scheme are the notified Rs 10 registration fee and the Rs 5 monthly subscription; no agent may charge a disabled worker for filing a pension claim.