Medical Assistance Scheme (Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board)

What is the Medical Assistance Scheme of the Puducherry construction workers board?

Medical Assistance Scheme is a welfare benefit of the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, which functions under the Labour Department, Union Territory of Puducherry. The Board may sanction financial assistance to a registered construction worker who is hospitalised for five or more days because of an accident or any disease.

The assistance is Rs 500 for the initial minimum period of 5 days and Rs 50 per day thereafter, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,500 per month. The sanctioned amount is credited within 15 days through Direct Benefit Transfer.

The scheme is a wage-loss cushion, not health insurance. Construction work is daily-wage work; a fortnight in hospital after a fall from scaffolding or a bout of illness means a fortnight with no earnings at all. The Board's payment does not cover the hospital bill. It partly replaces the wages lost while the worker was on the ward.

The Board is constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and funded by the cess collected on construction spending together with workers' own contributions.

Key features

• Rs 500 for the first 5 days, then Rs 50 per additional day.
• Maximum of Rs 1,500 per month.
• Minimum hospitalisation of 5 days.
• Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer within 15 days.
• Claim window of one year from the date of discharge.

Who is eligible for the construction workers medical assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are a citizen of India.
• You are registered as a construction worker with the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
• You have completed 18 years of age.
• You have not completed 60 years of age during the preceding 12 months in construction work.
• You are contributing to the Board's fund and are up to date.
• You have not defaulted in payment of contribution to the Board for a continuous period of more than one year.
• You were hospitalised for five or more days due to an accident or any disease.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the Board. Registration is the gateway to every Board benefit, and there is no way to claim retrospectively for a period when you were unregistered.
• Your contributions have lapsed for more than one continuous year. Such a worker is not eligible until the membership is restored.
• The hospitalisation lasted fewer than 5 days.
• You are under 18, or your age and construction-work record fall outside the Board's window.
• The treatment was outpatient only. Day-care visits, consultations and medicines bought at a pharmacy without admission do not qualify.
• More than one year has passed since the date of discharge.

How is the amount calculated?

The formula is stepped, not proportional:

• Days 1 to 5: Rs 500 in total, as a single slab for the initial minimum period.
• Each day from day 6 onwards: Rs 50 per day.
• Ceiling: Rs 1,500 per month.

So a worker hospitalised for exactly 5 days receives Rs 500. A worker hospitalised for 15 days receives Rs 500 for the first 5 days plus Rs 500 for the next 10 days, or Rs 1,000. The Rs 1,500 monthly cap is reached at 25 days of hospitalisation. The discharge summary is what fixes the count, which is why an accurate admission and discharge date on that document matters more than the bills.

How to apply for the Medical Assistance Scheme

Registration comes first, then the claim.

1. Register with the Board, if you are not already a member. Visit the office of the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605009, and obtain the registration form free of cost. Fill it, paste a passport-size photograph, attach self-attested copies of the documents and add a declaration that you are a construction worker, naming your worksite. Pay Rs 25 at enrolment and Rs 100 as annual subscription; the Board collects Rs 300 as a renewal fee once in three years. An inspector under the Act verifies the claim, after which the Secretary of the Board approves the enrolment.
2. Obtain the claim form. Collect the prescribed application form free of cost from the Board's office, or print the form from the "Application for Welfare Benefits" section of the Labour Department's Citizen's Charter published at labour.py.gov.in.
3. Fill the form and attach the medical proof. Complete every mandatory field, paste a photograph and attach self-attested copies of the discharge summary, the medical certificate stating the accident or disease, the supporting bills, your Board identity card, Aadhaar and bank passbook.
4. Submit at the Board office. Hand the signed form and documents to the concerned authority at the Board's office in Thattanchavady.
5. Take an acknowledgement. Ask for a receipt with the date and time of submission and a unique identification number where one is issued.

File within one year from the date of discharge.

How do I check the status of the claim?

There is no published online tracker for this benefit. Follow up in person at the Board's office at Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605009, quoting your registration number and the acknowledgement issued when you filed. The Labour Department's Citizen's Charter sets out the grievance route and the officers responsible, and it is worth carrying a copy of the relevant page when you visit.

Once sanctioned, the amount is credited within 15 days through Direct Benefit Transfer, so check the bank passbook rather than waiting for a letter.

Why are medical assistance claims rejected?

• Contribution default. The most common reason. A gap of more than one continuous year disqualifies the worker. Pay the annual subscription on time and keep the receipts.
• Hospitalisation under 5 days. Nothing can be done about this; the slab structure begins at 5 days.
• Discharge summary missing dates. Ask the hospital for a summary that clearly records both the admission date and the discharge date.
• Claim filed after one year. Diarise the deadline from the discharge date.
• Registration lapsed. If the three-yearly renewal fee of Rs 300 was not paid, regularise the membership first.
• Bank account problems. A closed account or a name mismatch with Aadhaar stops the Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Outpatient treatment only. Admission is essential; the scheme is built around hospitalisation.

What dates and amounts should I remember?

• 5 days: minimum hospitalisation.
• Rs 500 / Rs 50 / Rs 1,500; first slab, per-day rate thereafter, and the monthly cap.
• 15 days — time within which the sanctioned amount is credited.
• 1 year from discharge. The claim deadline.
• Rs 25 / Rs 100 / Rs 300; registration fee, annual subscription, and the three-yearly renewal fee.

How do I raise a grievance?

Approach the Secretary of the Puducherry Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board at the Board's office, Industrial Estate, Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605009, in the first instance. The Labour Department's Citizen's Charter, published at labour.py.gov.in, carries the department's grievance redressal section and names the officers to whom a complaint should be addressed. Unresolved grievances can be escalated to the Labour Commissioner, Government of Puducherry, and filed on the central public grievance portal at pgportal.gov.in. A verified telephone helpline for the Board is not published, so use the office address or the departmental website contact page.