Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana (GBOCWWB)

What is Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana?

Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana is a housing benefit of the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board (GBOCWWB), the statutory welfare board under Gujarat's Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department that is funded by the cess collected on construction projects.

The scheme has a very specific design. It does not build houses and it does not give a construction subsidy. Instead, where an EWS or LIG house has already been allotted in an urban area by a local self-government organisation, an urban development authority or the Gujarat Housing Board under the Chief Minister Awas Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the Board contributes Rs 1,60,000 towards that allotment for a registered construction worker.

The Board's own scheme document, published on bocwwb.gujarat.gov.in, states the benefit plainly as Rs 1,60,000/- and adds that it is given once per family to the construction worker registered with the Board.

In effect the scheme closes the gap between what a daily-wage construction worker can pay towards an allotted flat and what the allotment actually costs. Workers often win an EWS allotment in a housing draw and then cannot service the instalments; this is the money that keeps that allotment from lapsing.

Who is eligible for Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana?

You can claim the benefit if:

• You are a construction worker registered with GBOCWWB. Registration is done through the Board's e-Nirman system and gives you a beneficiary identity card.
• Your registration has been in force for at least 2 years. The Board's terms and conditions state that the worker should have been registered in the scheme for at least 2 years.
• An EWS or LIG house has been allotted to you in an urban area by a local self-government organisation, an urban development authority or the Gujarat Housing Board, under the Chief Minister or Prime Minister Awas Yojana.
• You are within one year of the allotment. The Board's condition is that the application has to be made after one year of house allotment is not exceeded; in practice, file it as soon as the allotment letter is in hand.
• Your registration is live and eligible for benefit. The document states that the construction worker must be registered with the Board and eligible to benefit from the scheme.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• You are not registered with the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board, or your registration has lapsed.
• Your registration is less than 2 years old.
• You have no EWS or LIG allotment from a recognised allotting authority. This scheme cannot be used to build a house on your own plot; that is what the general state and central rural housing schemes are for.
• The allotment is more than a year old and no application was filed in time.
• Your family has already taken this benefit. It is a once-per-family assistance.
• You are a construction worker outside Gujarat, or a worker in an occupation not covered by the building and other construction workers legislation.

What documents are required?

The Board's scheme document lists six items:

Scan each document clearly before starting the online form. The allotment letter and the instalment payment letter are the two the verifying officers read most closely, because together they prove that a genuine allotment exists and is alive.

How to apply for Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana

The Board's document is explicit that online application has to be done from the Sanman portal by the construction worker.

1. Make sure your GBOCWWB registration is active and at least 2 years old. Renew it through e-Nirman if it has lapsed; without a live registration nothing else proceeds.
2. Open the Sanman portal at sanman.gujarat.gov.in and sign in with your construction worker credentials. The portal is the Labour Department's single window for all Board welfare schemes.
3. Select Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana from the list of Board schemes.
4. Fill the application form with your registration number, the allotment details, the allotting authority and the instalment position.
5. Upload the six documents: identity card, allotment letter, instalment letter, Aadhaar plus election card plus residence proof, rent agreement/receipt/landlord letter, and the municipal tax bill.
6. Submit the form and save the acknowledgement, which carries the application number you will quote at every follow-up.
7. Respond to any query raised by the District Project Manager, who is the first officer to verify and approve the file.

If you cannot file the form yourself, the district office of the Construction Board will help you complete the Sanman submission. Do not pay an agent for this; the Board charges nothing.

How the application is processed

The Board's document sets out the chain of approvals, which is worth knowing because it explains why the benefit takes time:

1. The construction worker submits the application form on Sanman.
2. The District Project Manager verifies and approves it.
3. The District Inspector verifies and approves it, then sends it to the head office.
4. The State Project Manager at head office verifies it and sends it to the Government Labour Officer.
5. The Government Labour Officer verifies the application, and the Member Secretary gives final approval.
6. After approval, the Accounts Officer prepares a demand draft, which is sent to the authority concerned.

Because payment is made by demand draft to the allotting authority rather than as a cash transfer to the worker, the money is credited against the house, which is also why an accurate allotment letter matters more than bank details here.

How to check your application status

1. Sign in to sanman.gujarat.gov.in with the same credentials used to apply.
2. Open the application status section and enter your application number.
3. The status tells you which stage the file has reached: District Project Manager, District Inspector, head office or approved.
4. If the file has not moved for weeks, contact the district office of the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board, or call the Board's toll free number 1800-233-2324 or 079-25502271.

Why claims under this scheme fail

• Application filed more than a year after allotment. The one-year condition is the most common and the least recoverable failure.
• Registration under 2 years old, or lapsed at the time of application.
• No formal allotment letter — a waiting-list number or a draw result slip is not an allotment order.
• Instalment letter missing, so the officers cannot confirm the allotment is live.
• Family has already drawn the benefit for another unit.
• Mismatch between the name on the registration card and the allotment letter, common where the allotment is in a spouse's name.
• Illegible uploads. A blurred photograph of the tax bill or allotment letter is sent back for re-upload and costs weeks.

Most of these are fixable before submission, which is why it is worth checking the six documents against the list above rather than uploading whatever is at hand.

Where to get help

• Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board; bocwwb.gujarat.gov.in, toll free 1800-233-2324, or 079-25502271
• Sanman portal; sanman.gujarat.gov.in, for application and status
• e-Nirman portal, for construction worker registration and renewal
• District office of the Construction Board, for help with filing and for grievances about a stalled file

Applying under Shree Nanaji Deshmukh Awas Yojana is free. The Board does not charge for registration renewal, for the application, or for the sanction, and no official is authorised to take a share of the Rs 1,60,000.