Medical Assistance, Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board

What is the MBOCWWB Medical Assistance scheme?

Medical Assistance of the Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (MBOCWWB) is a cash reimbursement paid to a registered construction worker who has been hospitalised for five days or more because of an accident or any disease. The Board is a statutory body constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and functions under the Labour Department, Government of Meghalaya, from the Office of the Secretary at Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001. Workers in the state generally call it the BOCW Board, and this benefit appears on the Board's own scheme list simply as Medical Assistance.

According to the Board's medical assistance page, the rule reads that the Board may sanction financial assistance to beneficiaries who are hospitalised for five or more days due to accident or any disease, and that the financial assistance shall be Rs 200 for the first 5 days and Rs 20 each for the remaining days, subject to a minimum of Rs 1,000. The same rule extends the assistance to a beneficiary who meets with an accident and is put in plaster at residence, and provides that where disability results from an accident the worker is eligible for financial assistance of up to a maximum of Rs 5,000 depending on the percentage of disability.

The design is modest and deliberately so. Construction work in Meghalaya is overwhelmingly daily wage, and a worker who spends a week in hospital loses a week of earnings on top of paying for treatment. The Rs 1,000 minimum is not meant to cover a hospital bill; it is a floor payment from the welfare fund built up out of the cess levied on construction works in the state and the members' own Rs 5 monthly subscriptions. Medical Assistance sits alongside about a dozen other Board benefits; death benefit of Rs 15,000, or Rs 50,000 for accidental death in the course of employment, funeral benefit of Rs 1,000, maternity benefit of Rs 1,000, marriage benefit of Rs 2,000, tool loans of Rs 5,000, housing advance up to Rs 50,000, educational scholarships, SSLC cash awards, welfare pension, disability pension and family pension.

Who is eligible for MBOCWWB Medical Assistance?

A worker is eligible if:

• The worker is a registered beneficiary of the MBOCWWB fund and holds the photo identity card issued by the Deputy Labour Commissioner.
• The worker was hospitalised for five days or more because of an accident or any disease, or met with an accident and was put in plaster at home.
• The worker's Rs 5 monthly subscription is current, the last subscription challan or receipt is a listed document.
• The claim is supported by the hospital challans, receipts and bills for the period of the stay.

Registration is the gate, and it has its own conditions. 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. There is no route to claim as an unregistered construction worker, and registration cannot be done retrospectively to cover an illness that has already happened.
• The hospitalisation was shorter than five days and there was no accident requiring plaster at home. A two-day admission for observation does not meet the rule.
• The registration has lapsed through unpaid subscriptions, until the arrears are cleared.
• The claimant is a family member claiming for their own treatment. The rule attaches the assistance to the beneficiary of the fund, that is the registered worker, not to a dependant's hospital stay.
• The worker is a member of another welfare fund, which the Board's enrolment declaration rules out.

What documents are required for a medical claim?

File attested photocopies and keep the originals of the hospital papers. Where the claim rests on the plaster-at-home provision rather than a hospital admission, the medical certificate has to say so explicitly, because there will be no admission and discharge dates for the office to count.

How to apply for MBOCWWB Medical Assistance

1. Confirm that your registration is live — that the identity card has not lapsed and the Rs 5 monthly subscription is paid up to date. Clear any arrears at your district labour office before filing.
2. Collect the hospital paperwork, the discharge summary, and every challan, receipt and bill covering the period of the stay, so the number of days is documented beyond doubt.
3. Obtain the medical certificate from the Chief Medical Officer. Where an accident has caused disability, the certificate must state the percentage of disability, because the ex-gratia of up to Rs 5,000 is calculated on it.
4. Download Form No. XLIII from the medical assistance page on megbocwwb.gov.in, or collect it from your district labour office.
5. Fill in the form with your registration number, the dates of admission and discharge, the nature of the illness or accident, and your bank details.
6. Submit the completed form with all attachments to the Office of the Secretary, Meghalaya Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Lower Lachumiere, Shillong 793001, or through your district labour office.
7. Collect the acknowledgement and note your registration number on your own copy of the form.

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

How do you check the status of a medical claim?

The Board does not advertise a self-service application 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 and holds the local beneficiary register.

Because this is a one-time credit rather than a recurring pension, watch the bank passbook for the entry rather than waiting for a separate sanction letter.

Why medical claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• Fewer than five days in hospital. The most common reason. If the admission was short but an accident left you in plaster at home, say so on the form and attach a certificate stating it, because that is a separate limb of the same rule.
• Subscription arrears. The last subscription challan is a listed document. Pay the outstanding Rs 5 monthly contributions at the district labour office and attach a fresh receipt.
• Bills that do not cover the whole stay. The payment is calculated per day, so gaps in the challans reduce or stall the claim. Ask the hospital billing counter for a consolidated statement.
• Disability percentage not stated. Without it, the Board cannot fix the ex-gratia within the Rs 5,000 ceiling, and the file goes back for a fresh certificate.
• Name mismatch between the hospital record, the identity card and the bank passbook. Correct it at source, or attach a certificate from the local headman or village authority explaining the variation.
• Certificate not from the Chief Medical Officer. The Board names that office specifically for the disability certificate.

What are the key dates for this scheme?

Medical Assistance has no annual window and no last date to apply. The timing that matters is practical rather than official: file while the hospital records are fresh and the membership is unambiguously live, since the rule is written around documents rather than around a deadline. The scheme's fixed numbers are the Rs 200 for the first five days, Rs 20 for each further day, the Rs 1,000 minimum, and the Rs 5,000 ceiling on accident-disability assistance.

Registration timing matters more than claim timing. A worker must already be registered when the illness or accident occurs, and registration itself is open only between the ages of 18 and 60 to workers with 90 days of construction work in a year. Anyone working on a site in Meghalaya should enrol early rather than at the point of needing a benefit.

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, whom the Board's FAQ names as the first point of contact
• 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 Board's rules also give a right of appeal to the Board itself against a decision, exercisable within 60 days of receiving the order, with power to condone delay for recorded reasons. The only charges in this scheme are the notified Rs 10 registration fee and the Rs 5 monthly subscription; no agent may charge a worker for filing a medical claim.