Funeral Assistance for Construction Workers — Sikkim

What is funeral assistance for construction workers in Sikkim?

Funeral Assistance for Construction Workers is one of eight cash benefits paid by the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, which sits under the Labour Department, Government of Sikkim at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok. The Board is funded by the welfare cess collected on construction works under the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996 to money levied on construction spending and returned to the workers who did the building.

According to Labour Department Notification No. 22/DL dated 14 June 2018, published in Sikkim Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 347 on 9 July 2018, the Board fixed a schedule of financial assistance for registered workers and their immediate dependants. Funeral appears at serial number 4 of that schedule with an amount of Rs 10,000, and its "applicable to" column reads "Registered worker & their immediate dependants". The notification was issued under the scheme framed in clause (h) of sub-section (1) of Section 22 of the BOCW Act, 1996, and it supersedes the earlier Notification No. 19/DL dated 18 May 2013.

The purpose is narrow and practical. A construction worker's family often faces funeral costs within hours of a death, before any insurance, provident fund or compensation claim can possibly pay out. Rs 10,000 released against a death certificate is meant to cover that immediate expense.

How much is paid, and where does funeral assistance sit among the Board's benefits?

The complete financial assistance schedule notified in 2018 reads as follows.

A later notification, No. 24/DL dated 13 August 2018 in Gazette Extraordinary No. 424, inserted the words "One Time" against serial numbers 6 and 8.

The distinction between rows 4 and 8 is the one families most often miss. Funeral assistance of Rs 10,000 is payable on a death, without any requirement that the death be work-related. Permanent disability or death in the course of employment pays Rs 1,50,000 as a one-time benefit, and that claim needs evidence that the death happened at work, normally an FIR or General Diary entry alongside the death certificate. Where a registered worker dies on site, the family should examine both entries rather than settling for the smaller one.

The Labour Department's separate BOCW welfare schemes information sheet, published in April 2022, additionally lists a one-time pension of Rs 2,00,000, free education for the children of registered workers with hostel accommodation in Gangtok, and coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana and Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Who is eligible for funeral assistance in Sikkim?

A claim can be made if all of these are true.

• The deceased was registered as a beneficiary of the Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board and held the identity card issued in Form XXVIII under rule 266 of the Sikkim BOCW Rules, 2010.
• At registration the worker was between 18 and 60 years of age and had completed 90 days of service as a building worker in the preceding twelve months. Rule 264 sets both conditions.
• The worker's Rs 20 per month contribution to the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Fund was current at the time of death.
• The claimant is the nominee filed in Form XXXI or an immediate dependant, the husband or wife, minor sons and unmarried daughters of the worker, or parents solely dependent on the worker.
• A death certificate from the competent authority is available.

A claim cannot be made, or is not eligible, in these situations.

• The worker was never registered with the Board. Registration is the gateway to every BOCW benefit and cannot be completed after a death, however many years the person worked on Sikkim construction sites.
• Contributions lapsed for a continuous year. Rule 267(2) says such a beneficiary ceases to be a beneficiary of the Fund. A living worker may resume membership by paying arrears with the Secretary's permission, but not more than twice, and that route closes on death.
• The claimant is not a nominee or an immediate dependant as defined in the Rules. A sibling, a nephew or a non-dependent parent cannot claim in place of the spouse or children.
• The worker was 60 years or older at registration, or had not completed 90 days of construction work in the preceding twelve months, so the registration was never valid.
• The claim is from a contractor or employer rather than the family of a building worker. The Board's benefits run to workers and beneficiaries, not to establishments.

What documents are needed for a funeral assistance claim?

How to apply for funeral assistance in Sikkim

1. Obtain the death certificate of the registered worker from the Registrar of Births and Deaths, the hospital or the local authority. Nothing in the claim can proceed without it.
2. Collect the worker's Form XXVIII identity card and a letter from the organisation or establishment where the worker was engaged. The 2018 notification lists the establishment letter first for every category of claim, and its absence is a routine cause of delay.
3. Establish who is claiming. If the worker filed a nomination in Form XXXI, attach a copy. If not, the claimant must show they are an immediate dependant: spouse, minor son, unmarried daughter or solely dependent parent, with an identity document and proof of relationship.
4. Visit the concerned District Labour Office, ask for the financial assistance claim form, and fill it in for the funeral category. Attach the death certificate, identity card, establishment letter and relationship proof.
5. Submit the claim to the District Labour Officer, and send a copy of the information to Head Quarter, Labour Department, Shram Bhawan, Gangtok, East Sikkim, exactly as the 2018 notification directs. Keep the acknowledgement or reference number.
6. Follow up with the district office or the BOCW Nodal Officer once the Board has had a reasonable period to verify the registration and the contribution record, quoting the reference number from the acknowledgement.

How to register as a BOCW beneficiary in Sikkim

Because funeral assistance is only payable on a live registration, the more useful step for a working family is registration itself.

A building worker applies in Form XXVII to the Beneficiary Registering Officer authorised by the Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board. Rule 265 requires three small photographs, attested proof of date of birth from a school certificate, the Registrar of Births and Deaths, a local authority, a panchayat body, an MLA, an MP or a municipal councillor, the employer's certificate of engagement as a building worker, and documents showing payment of a registration fee of Rs 20. The worker must be 18 to 60 years old with 90 days of construction work in the preceding twelve months.

On registration, the Board issues the identity card in Form XXVIII under rule 266. The worker should then file a nomination in Form XXXI, this single step removes almost all the friction from a funeral claim later — and keep the Rs 20 per month contribution current, remitted once every three months at a bank specified by the Board in the district.

Who to contact in each district

The Labour Department's BOCW welfare schemes sheet publishes these numbers:

• BOCW Nodal Officer to 70769-26998
• East to 90643-89842
• Pakyong to 90028-33969
• South to 96098-63959
• West to 95477-16798
• North to 96359-98441
• Toll free helpline for labourers to 1800-345-1474

The Labour Department headquarters can be reached on 03592-201474 and at sikkimlabour@gmail.com, at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok.

Why funeral assistance claims get rejected

• The registration had lapsed because contributions were unpaid for a continuous year before the death.
• No death certificate, or a hospital slip offered in place of one.
• No letter from the establishment, which the notification lists as the first required document for every claim category.
• The claimant is not a nominee or immediate dependant under the definition in the Rules, and no nomination in Form XXXI was ever filed.
• The claim was filed at the wrong office, for example directly at headquarters instead of through the District Labour Officer.
• The identity card cannot be produced and the Board has no record matching the name, which usually means the worker was never registered.

Where a claim is refused, rule 271(6) of the Sikkim BOCW Rules, 2010 provides an appeal to the Board within 60 days of receiving the order, and the Board's decision on the appeal is final. A separate 30-day appeal right applies against a refusal to register a worker as a beneficiary under rule 266(2).

No fee is payable to make a funeral assistance claim, and no agent or middleman can charge for filing one.

How to check your application status

The Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board does not run an online portal where a claimant can log in and track a funeral assistance claim by reference number. Status has to be checked directly with the office that received the claim.

1. Keep the acknowledgement or reference number given at the District Labour Office when the claim was submitted. Every follow-up call or visit moves faster with this number in hand.
2. Call or visit the District Labour Office where the claim was filed and ask for its status against that reference number. Since the claim also goes to the Labour Department headquarters at Shram Bhawan, Gangtok, the district office is usually able to say whether it has been forwarded, whether verification of the worker's registration and contribution record is complete, or whether it is awaiting a document.
3. Contact the BOCW Nodal Officer on 70769-26998 if the district office cannot give a clear answer, or if the claim has been pending well beyond a reasonable processing period. The Nodal Officer sits above the district level and can check where in the verification chain the file has stalled.
4. Use the district-wise numbers for a more local point of contact: East 90643-89842, Pakyong 90028-33969, South 96098-63959, West 95477-16798, North 96359-98441.
5. Call the toll-free labour helpline, 1800-345-1474, for a general status check if the district and nodal numbers are not reachable.
6. Write to the Labour Department headquarters at sikkimlabour@gmail.com or visit Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok, quoting the reference number, if the claim has had no movement after repeated calls.

If the claim is eventually refused, the rejection order itself is the formal status update, and it opens the 60-day appeal window to the Board under rule 271(6) described elsewhere on this page. A claimant who receives no response at all, rather than a refusal, should escalate through the Nodal Officer before that window becomes relevant.