Maternity Benefit for Registered Women Construction Workers (OB&OCWW Board), Odisha

What is the BOCW Maternity Benefit in Odisha?

Maternity Benefit is a cash grant of Rs 10,000 per child paid by the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board to registered women construction workers, for a maximum of two children. The Board operates under the Labour & ESI Department, Government of Odisha, with the Labour Commissioner as Member Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, and draws its money from the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Fund created under Rule 263 of the Odisha BOCW (RE&CS) Rules, 2002.

The legal basis is Rule 277 of those Rules, substituted by Gazette Notification No. 933 of 30 May 2019 (S.R.O. No. 187/2019). Rule 277 states that maternity benefit at Rs 10,000 per child shall be given to female beneficiaries, subject to a maximum of two children, who have been registered beneficiaries for a period of one year, and importantly, that it is paid over and above the other benefits the worker draws from the Board. A woman can therefore receive maternity benefit in the same year as educational assistance for an older child or assistance for safety equipment.

Odia-speaking readers will find the scheme listed on the Board's Nirmanshramik portal as "Grant of Maternity benefit".

Key facts

• Amount: Rs 10,000 per child, for up to two children.
• Combined with Mamata for eligible women: Rs 15,000 (Rs 10,000 Board + Rs 5,000 Mamata).
• Minimum registration: one year, contributions current.
• Form: Form No. XLI.
• Sanctioning authority: Collector and District Magistrate, on a DLO proposal.
• Payment: account payee cheque or bank transfer only.

Who is eligible for the maternity benefit in Odisha?

You can claim if:

• You are a woman registered as a beneficiary with the OB&OCWW Board, holding an identity card in Form XXVIII.
• You have completed one year as a registered beneficiary.
• Your Rs 50 annual contribution is paid up to date and you hold the money receipt.
• The claim is for your first or second child.
• You can produce a document supporting the birth of the child for whom the benefit is claimed.

You cannot apply, or will not be eligible, if:

• You are not registered with the Board in your own name. Under Section 12 of the BOCW Act, registration requires the worker to be between 18 and 60 years of age and to have worked as a building or other construction worker for at least 90 days in the preceding twelve months.
• You are a male beneficiary claiming on behalf of your wife; Rule 277 is limited to female beneficiaries.
• Your membership has ceased because the annual contribution was in default for three continuous years under Rule 267(3).
• Less than one year has passed since your registration.
• The claim is for a third or later child. The ceiling of two children is applied on the basis of the children you declare in the application.
• You have already drawn maternity benefit for the same child.

What documents are required?

How to apply for BOCW maternity benefit in Odisha

1. Log in at nirmanshramik.odisha.gov.in using Construction Worker Login with the credentials created when you registered as a beneficiary.
2. Check the contribution status and, if it has lapsed, use Pay Annual Contribution on the same portal before filing, an arrear contribution is the most common reason a claim is returned.
3. Open Schemes, select Grant of Maternity benefit, and enter the child's details along with details of any children born earlier.
4. Upload the birth proof, your identity card, the contribution money receipt and the first page of your bank passbook, then submit and note the acknowledgement number.
5. Follow the claim under Application Tracking, and produce the original documents at the District Labour Office when called.

How to apply offline in Form XLI

1. Collect Form No. XLI from the District Labour Office, or download the Maternity Benefit Form from the Downloads page of the Board portal.
2. Fill it in and attach a copy of the annual contribution money receipt, the attested copy of your identity card, the document supporting the birth of the child, the declaration of earlier children, and your bank passbook copy.
3. Submit the file to the District Labour Officer of your district and take a dated acknowledgement.
4. The DLO verifies the eligibility criteria and submits the proposal to the Collector and District Magistrate for sanction.
5. Ensure the benefit is entered in your pass book, the guidelines require every benefit to be recorded in the beneficiary's pass book and in the office copy held by the department.

Districts also run block-level disbursement camps under Letter No. 1936 of 17 October 2017, at which several Board benefits are sanctioned and handed over together. For a woman in an interior block, attending the nearest camp is often faster than repeated trips to the district headquarters.

How much is paid, and how does it combine with Mamata?

The Board pays Rs 10,000 per child, so a woman with two children can draw Rs 20,000 in total over the years, provided each claim is filed while her registration is active.

The rate has been revised twice. Letter No. 845 of 27 January 2015 raised maternity benefit from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000. Resolution No. 6096 of 11 August 2016 of the Labour & ESI Department then enhanced it from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 under Rule 277, and recorded that for eligible beneficiaries under Mamata, the conditional maternity benefit scheme run by the Women & Child Development Department, the combined benefit would be Rs 15,000; Rs 10,000 from the OB&OCWW Board and Rs 5,000 under Mamata. The 2019 amendment rules carry the Rs 10,000 figure into Rule 277 itself.

Uptake of maternity benefit is low compared with other Board benefits, which is worth knowing because it means claims are often unfamiliar to local offices. The Divisional Labour Commissioner, Bhadrak, recorded only 329 maternity benefit payments amounting to about Rs 3.25 lakh up to 30 April 2025, against 12,615 marriage assistance cases in the same period. Registered women workers frequently do not know the benefit exists.

How do I check my maternity benefit application status?

1. Log in at nirmanshramik.odisha.gov.in and open Application Tracking.
2. Enter the acknowledgement number issued when you submitted the claim.
3. If the file was submitted offline, ask the District Labour Officer whether the proposal has been moved to the Collector, and note the file number.
4. Once sanctioned, confirm the credit in the bank account whose passbook copy you filed, and get the entry made in your pass book.

Why maternity benefit claims get rejected

• Contribution in arrears or membership ceased under Rule 267(3).
• Less than one year of registration on the date of the claim.
• No proof of birth of the child, or a birth record whose name and details do not match the beneficiary's records.
• Third child. Claims beyond the two-child ceiling are rejected.
• Claim by a male beneficiary for his wife who is not herself registered.
• Earlier children not declared, which leads the office to send the file back for a fresh declaration.
• Bank details unreadable on the passbook copy.

Key dates and rule references

• 27 January 2015 — Letter No. 845 raised maternity benefit from Rs 4,000 to Rs 8,000.
• 11 August 2016, Resolution No. 6096 raised it to Rs 10,000 under Rule 277 and set the Rs 15,000 combined figure with Mamata.
• 23 October 2013: Letter No. 1596(30) delegated sanction of maternity benefit to District Collectors.
• 30 May 2019, Gazette Notification No. 933 (S.R.O. 187/2019) substituted Rule 277 in its present form.

Grievance and contact

• OB&OCWW Board, Office of the Labour Commissioner, Unit-3, Kharavel Nagar, Bhubaneswar: phone 0674-3120552; also listed: 0674-2390079, 0674-2390028, 0674-2390013.
• Email: obocwwboard@yahoo.com
• Labour Directorate grievance portal: grievance.labdirodisha.gov.in
• District Labour Officer of your district for claim-stage queries.

No fee is payable to any agent for a maternity benefit claim. A registered woman worker pays only the Rs 20 registration fee and the Rs 50 annual contribution, each against a money receipt.