Disablement Benefit Scheme (Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board)

What is the Disablement Benefit Scheme of the Puducherry construction workers' board?

Disablement Benefit Scheme is one of the welfare benefits extended by the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, constituted by the Labour Department, Government of Puducherry, in 2002 under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.

According to the Labour Department's published list of benefits extended by the Board, the Board may sanction a sum of Rs 75,000 for total disability to a beneficiary, depending on the medical disability certificate issued by the Government Medical Officer acting as competent authority. The amount is credited through Direct Benefit Transfer into the worker's bank account.

The logic of the scheme is simple. Construction work in Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam is casual, physical and hazardous. A worker who loses the capacity to work loses the whole household income at once, and rarely has an employer-run insurance to fall back on. The Board, funded largely by cess collected on construction, exists to absorb exactly that shock.

Where this benefit sits among the Board's schemes

The same Board pays a range of other benefits to the same registered workers:

• Marriage assistance of Rs 7,000, for up to two children of a beneficiary, or for a female beneficiary's own marriage.
• Maternity benefit of Rs 5,000, allowed not more than twice.
• Funeral assistance of Rs 7,000 to the nominee or dependants.
• Natural and accidental death benefit of Rs 70,000, rising to Rs 2.25 lakh where the death occurs during the course of employment.
• Medical assistance of Rs 500 for the first five days of hospitalisation and Rs 50 per day thereafter, subject to a ceiling of Rs 1,500 a month.
• Accidental medical assistance of Rs 1,500 per month for a worker who sustains a fracture, until fit to resume work.
• Specialised treatment assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh in tie-up hospitals for conditions such as TB, lung disease and neurological illness, on a referral from the Health Department.
• Higher education assistance for the wards of beneficiaries, ranging from Rs 2,000 a year for degree courses to Rs 1,00,000 as a one-time payment for MBBS or BDS admitted through CENTAC.
• Refund of contribution to the nominee on the death of a beneficiary.
• Diwali gift coupon of Rs 2,000 for every enrolled beneficiary.

Who is eligible for the Disablement Benefit Scheme?

You can claim if:

• You are an Indian citizen and a resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• You are registered as a construction worker with the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, and your registration is current.
• You have completed 18 years of age. The Board's registration rules admit workers from 18 up to 60 years.
• You have completed 90 days of work as a building or other construction worker during the preceding 12 months, the qualifying condition for registration itself.
• Your total disablement is certified by a Government Medical Officer, the competent authority named by the Board.

You cannot claim if:

• You were never enrolled with the Board. Registration is a precondition, not a formality that can be completed after the disabling event.
• Your annual subscription of Rs 100 has lapsed and the registration has not been renewed.
• You have no disability certificate from a Government Medical Officer.
• You are under 18.

Workers falling in the 53 categories of construction work enlisted by the Board are covered; masons, helpers, bar benders, carpenters on site, plumbers, painters, electricians on construction sites and the rest. Enrolment, not job title, is what the Board checks.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Disablement Benefit

1. Confirm your registration is live. Check that your Board identity card is valid and that the Rs 100 annual subscription has been paid for the current year. If it has lapsed, renew it before filing the claim.
2. Get the disability certified. Obtain a medical disability certificate from a Government Medical Officer, the competent authority recognised by the Board. A private hospital certificate on its own will not do.
3. Collect the prescribed application form from the Board office at D-1, 4th Cross, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605 009, or from the regional office covering your area.
4. Fill in every mandatory field and attach the disability certificate, identity card copy, renewal receipt, Aadhaar copy and a bank passbook copy showing the IFSC code.
5. Submit the application to the Labour Officer of the Board and obtain an acknowledgement.
6. Follow up on the sanction. Once the Board approves, the Rs 75,000 is credited to the registered bank account by Direct Benefit Transfer.

How to register with the Board if you are not yet a member

1. Obtain the registration form from the Board office.
2. Attach age proof, birth certificate, transfer certificate or a doctor's certificate.
3. Attach an experience certificate from a registered engineer, contractor, association or trade union, proving you work in construction.
4. Attach two passport size photographs, proof of blood group from a medical health card or laboratory certificate, and a ration card copy.
5. Pay the registration fee of Rs 25 and the annual subscription of Rs 100.
6. Renew the registration every year. A duplicate identity card, if the original is lost, costs Rs 50.

Enrolment is approved by the Secretary of the Welfare Board. The Board reported roughly 29,845 members on its rolls at the time the Labour Department last published the figure.

How to check the status of a claim

The Board does not run a self-service online status tracker for this benefit. Status is checked by contacting the Labour Officer at the Board office where the claim was filed, quoting the acknowledgement and the beneficiary identity card number. The Labour Department periodically publishes region-wise beneficiary lists for its settled claims, death benefit, funeral benefit and refund of subscription lists have been put out month by month — so a settled case usually shows up in a published list as well.

Why claims are rejected, and how to fix them

• Lapsed membership. Renew the Rs 100 annual subscription and produce the receipt; the Board treats a lapsed member as outside the scheme.
• Certificate from a non-competent authority. Have the disability certified again by a Government Medical Officer.
• Bank account mismatch. A wrong IFSC or an account not in the worker's own name blocks the DBT credit. Submit a fresh passbook copy.
• Partial disability claimed at the total-disability rate. The Rs 75,000 figure is published for total disability; a fracture or temporary incapacity is handled under the separate accidental medical assistance of Rs 1,500 a month.
• No proof of 90 days of construction work in the preceding 12 months at the time of registration.

Where to get help or raise a grievance

• The Labour Officer, Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, D-1, 4th Cross, Industrial Estate, Puducherry-9 to phone 0413-2241562.
• Karaikal regional office, The Labour Officer, Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Administrative Complex, Madagadi, Karaikal.
• Commissioner of Labour, Labour Department Complex, Vazhudavur Road, Gandhi Nagar, Puducherry - 605 009 to phone 0413-2279211.
• Complaints may also be filed on the central grievance portal at pgportal.gov.in.

The Labour Department states that for redressal of grievances, complaints and suggestions the public may meet the Labour Officer in person on any working day. No fee is payable for filing a disablement claim, and no agent is needed.