Educational Assistance, Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board

What is the MBOCWWB Educational Assistance scheme?

Educational Assistance of the Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (MBOCWWB) is a scholarship for the children of registered construction workers in Meghalaya. The Board is a statutory body constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and operates under the Labour Department, Government of Meghalaya, from the Office of the Secretary at Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001. Workers know it as the BOCW Board, and this benefit appears on the Board's scheme list as Educational Assistance.

According to the Board's educational assistance page, the rule reads that children of the members shall be eligible for such financial assistance as may be determined by the Board for such courses of study as may be specified by the Board from time to time, and that an application in Form No. XLIV shall be submitted with such documents and within such time as the Board specifies. The same page states that the Board provides two types of scholarships for beneficiaries' children, a pre-matric scholarship and a post-matric scholarship: each with its own downloadable application form.

The rate is the one thing the Board does not put in writing on the scheme page. The rule deliberately leaves the amount to be determined by the Board, which means it can vary by course and by year and is settled administratively rather than published as a fixed table. That is a real limitation of the scheme as documented, and any figure quoted elsewhere without a Board notification behind it should be treated with caution. The honest advice is to ask the Board office or your district labour office for the current year's rate before you plan around it.

Educational Assistance sits within a family of around a dozen Board benefits funded from the cess levied on construction works in the state and members' Rs 5 monthly subscriptions. The closest relative is the Board's cash award scheme, which is separate and much more precisely written: the Board may institute every year a cash award to three male and three female children of beneficiaries in each district, at the rate of Rs 1,000, Rs 750 and Rs 500, to those who score the highest marks in SSLC, claimed on Form No. XLII. A family can be in line for both. The scholarship for the cost of study, the cash award for performance in the board exam.

Who is eligible for the MBOCWWB scholarship?

A student is eligible if:

• The student is the child of a member of the MBOCWWB fund. A registered building or other construction worker in Meghalaya.
• The parent or guardian holds a construction worker registration card, an attested copy of which must be attached.
• The student is studying a course of study specified by the Board, at either the pre-matric or the post-matric stage.
• The application is signed by the candidate, the parents and the Principal of the institution attended, and forwarded by the employer.
• The Clearance Certificate and the Verification/Information Certificate from the Head of the Institution are attached.

Registration of the parent 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. Registration costs Rs 10 once, plus a Rs 5 monthly subscription. The Board's FAQ 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, and confirms that eligible dependants: spouse, minor children and unmarried daughters; can receive Board benefits.

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

• The parent is not registered with the MBOCWWB. Without the registration card there is no claim, and enrolment cannot be backdated to cover a completed academic year.
• The parent's registration has lapsed through unpaid subscriptions, until it is regularised.
• The application is unsigned by the institution or unforwarded by the employer. The Board's document list treats both signatures as part of the prescribed application, not as optional endorsements.
• The course is not among those specified by the Board, since the rule ties eligibility to courses the Board specifies from time to time.
• The application is filed after the window the Board announces, since the rule requires submission within such time as the Board specifies.

What documents are required for the scholarship?

The two institution certificates are the documents families most often miss, because they are downloaded separately from the main form and have to be signed by the head of the school or college rather than by a class teacher. Download them before you approach the institution, so both can be signed in a single visit.

How to apply for the MBOCWWB Educational Assistance

1. Confirm the parent's registration is live — that the construction worker registration card is current and the Rs 5 monthly subscription is paid up. Clear arrears at the district labour office first.
2. Check the current window and rate with the Board office on 0364 2501224 or at your district labour office, since the Board's rule fixes both administratively rather than publishing them.
3. Download the forms from the educational assistance page on megbocwwb.gov.in, Form No. XLIV or the pre-matric or post-matric scholarship form as applicable, plus the Clearance Certificate and the Verification/Information Certificate.
4. Fill in the application with the student's details, the course and class, the institution, and the parent's MBOCWWB registration number.
5. Get the signatures. The candidate's, the parents', and the Principal of the institution attended, and have the application forwarded by the employer.
6. Attach the supporting papers: two signed photographs, attested examination certificates, an attested copy of the registration card, both institution certificates, and for a renewal the countersigned receipt for last year's scholarship.
7. Submit the file 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 apply online instead, open the BOCW Online Portal linked from megbocwwb.gov.in and log in with the registered worker's account. Educational scholarships are among the benefits a registered worker can apply for online, alongside cash awards, death benefit, disability pension, family pension, funeral benefit, instrument grants, marriage assistance, maternity support, medical benefit and welfare pension. The institution certificates and the attested registration card still have to be produced for verification.

How do you check the status of a scholarship application?

The Board does not advertise a self-service status tracker for scholarship applications. The routes that work are:

• Call the Board office on 0364 2501224 with the parent's registration number and the date the application was filed.
• Email mbocwwb-meg[at]gov[dot]in with the same details.
• Ask at 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.
• Ask the Head of the Institution, since the Board routes the clearance and verification certificates through the institution and often corresponds with it.

Why scholarship applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Missing employer forwarding. The prescribed application must be forwarded by the employer; an application sent directly by the family is incomplete on the Board's own list.
• Clearance or Verification Certificate not attached. These are separate downloads and are the most commonly omitted papers.
• Registration card of the parent not attested. The Board asks for an attested copy specifically.
• Subscription arrears on the parent's membership. Clear them at the district labour office and attach a fresh receipt.
• Renewal filed without last year's receipt. For a repeat award the previous year's scholarship receipt, countersigned by the employer, is part of the file.
• Late filing. The rule requires submission within the time the Board specifies, so an application sent after the announced window will not be considered.
• Name mismatch between the school record, the registration card and the examination certificate. Correct it at source or attach a certificate from the local headman or village authority explaining the variation.

What are the key dates and figures?

Educational Assistance has no fixed calendar deadline published by the Board. The rule ties the window to whatever the Board specifies for the year, which is why checking megbocwwb.gov.in or the district labour office at the start of the academic year matters. The figures that are published are on the neighbouring cash award scheme, Rs 1,000, Rs 750 and Rs 500 to the top three male and top three female children of beneficiaries in each district in the SSLC examination, on Form No. XLII, and on registration, which costs Rs 10 once with a Rs 5 monthly subscription and is open only between the ages of 18 and 60 to workers with 90 days of construction work in a year.

Parents should treat registration as the real deadline. A worker who enrols in the year a child enters Class 9 or Class 11 has a live membership and a clean subscription record by the time the scholarship application is due, which is the single biggest predictor of the file going through without a query.

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
• Deputy Labour Commissioner / district labour office, the Registering Officer for beneficiaries, 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 an application has been pending unreasonably long. The only charges connected with this scheme are the notified Rs 10 registration fee and the Rs 5 monthly subscription paid by the worker; no agent may charge a family for filing a scholarship application, and the downloadable forms on megbocwwb.gov.in are free.