Pension Benefit for Construction Workers - Sikkim

What is the Pension Benefit for Construction Workers in Sikkim?

Pension Benefit for Construction Workers is one of the welfare benefits paid by the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, a statutory board set up under Section 18 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. The Board sits inside the Labour Department, Government of Sikkim, whose headquarters is Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok - 737102.

According to the Sikkim Labour Department, the BOCW Act and the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act were brought into force in Sikkim with effect from 6 September 2010. Both apply to every establishment that employed ten or more building workers on any day of the preceding twelve months. Money for the benefits does not come from the state budget alone, it comes from a cess collected on construction cost, from the Rs 20 monthly contributions of registered workers, and from grants credited to the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Fund.

The Board's own welfare scheme sheet, published by the Labour Department in April 2022, lists a one-time pension of Rs 2,00,000 among the welfare benefits available to registered workers. This is the largest single cash benefit on that list. The figure replaced the earlier one of Rs 10,000 fixed by gazette notification No. 22/DL dated 14 June 2018, which was itself amended by notification No. 24/DL dated 13 August 2018 to insert the words "One Time" before the pension and the permanent-disability entries.

Alongside the one-time pension, the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Rules, 2010 contain a separate monthly pension provision at Rule 272 to Rs 150 per month for a registered beneficiary who has worked as a building worker for at least five years after registration, with an increase of Rs 10 for every completed year of service beyond five years, payable from the first day of the month following the month in which the worker turns 60. The Rules expressly allow the Board, with the prior approval of the State Government, to revise that pension. Workers should therefore treat the Rs 2,00,000 one-time pension on the 2022 scheme sheet as the current headline benefit, and ask the District Labour Officer which of the two routes applies to their case before filing.

Who is eligible for the Sikkim construction workers' pension?

Eligibility runs in two stages: first you must be a registered beneficiary of the Board, and then you must satisfy the pension condition.

You can register as a beneficiary if:

• You have completed 18 years of age and have not completed 60 years.
• You have worked as a building worker at a building or other construction site for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months.
• You pay the registration fee of Rs 20 and file the application in Form XXVII.
• You keep up the Rs 20 monthly contribution, remitted once every three months at a bank specified by the Board in your district.

You can claim the pension if:

• You are a registered beneficiary of the Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board.
• You have reached 60 years of age.
• Under Rule 272, you have worked as a building worker for at least five years after registration as a beneficiary.

You cannot apply if:

• You are under 18 or already 60 or above at the time of first registration, the Act's coverage clause closes at 60.
• You have not completed 90 days of construction work in the preceding twelve months, so you do not meet the coverage test.
• You have defaulted on the contribution for one continuous year and have not had your membership resumed by the Secretary of the Board. Such a person ceases to be a beneficiary of the fund and is not eligible for benefits.
• You are a contractor, supervisor or employer rather than a building worker, or you work in a sector outside building and other construction work. The schemes framed under notification No. 06/DL dated 12 March 2015 apply only to workers engaged in the building and other construction sector within the state.

How to apply for the construction workers' pension in Sikkim

The route is offline. Sikkim has not published an online pension-claim portal for the BOCW Board, so every step below is done on paper through the district office.

1. Register as a beneficiary first. Fill Form XXVII and submit it to the Beneficiary Registering Officer authorised by the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board. Attach three passport-size photographs, proof of date of birth, the employer's certificate of engagement as a building worker, and the receipt for the Rs 20 registration fee.
2. Collect your acknowledgement and identity card. The Beneficiary Registering Officer notes the date of receipt and gives you an acknowledgement. Once registered, you are issued an identity card in Form XXVIII with your photograph. Keep this card safe; every later claim is verified against it.
3. File your nomination in Form XXXI. The nomination decides who receives money if you die. It stands revised in your spouse's name once you marry or on any legal change in family status.
4. Pay the Rs 20 monthly contribution on time. Remit it once in three months at a bank specified by the Board in your district and keep the receipts.
5. Apply for pension in Form XXXVII on turning 60. Submit the form to the Secretary of the Board or an officer authorised by the Secretary, with your identity card, age proof or birth certificate, and a letter from the concerned organisation or establishment.
6. Submit the claim through the District Labour Officer. The 2018 gazette notification directs that claims be submitted to the concerned District Labour Officer, with a copy of the information sent to the Labour Department headquarters at Shram Bhawan, Gangtok.
7. Track the sanction. If the Board is satisfied, it sanctions the pension and the Secretary sends the pension sanctioning order to you. The sanctioning authority maintains a register in Form XXXVIII.

What documents does the Sikkim BOCW Board ask for?

How do I check the status of a pension claim?

Sikkim does not run a public online status tracker for BOCW claims, so status is checked in person or by phone.

• At the district office. Ask the District Labour Officer to whom you submitted the claim; the office holds the file and the acknowledgement date.
• At headquarters. The Labour Department at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok
• 737102 receives a copy of every claim and can confirm whether the Board has taken it up.
• By phone. Use the toll-free labour helpline 1800-345-1474, the departmental number 03592-201474, or the BOCW nodal officer on 70769-26998.
• By email. The department publishes sikkimlabour@gmail.com for LMS app and general worker queries.

Rule 272(3) sets a working deadline: if an application is found not eligible, the applicant must be informed within 90 days. If you have heard nothing well past that, the file has usually stalled at the document-verification stage rather than been decided.

Why do pension claims get rejected, and how do I fix it?

• Registration lapsed for non-payment. One continuous year of default ends membership. Fix it by applying to the Secretary of the Board to resume membership on payment of arrears; allowed twice at most.
• Less than five years of work after registration. Rule 272 requires five years of work as a building worker after being registered. A worker who registers at 58 will not meet it at 60.
• Age proof does not match records. Use the same document across the registration form, the identity card and the pension claim. A school certificate and a panchayat certificate showing different years is the most common mismatch.
• No employer's certificate. The 90-days test rests on it. Where an employer has closed or refuses, take the matter to the District Labour Officer.
• Missing letter from the establishment. The 2018 notification lists it for every financial-assistance case, and claims arriving without it are held.
• Claim filed at the wrong office. Claims go to the District Labour Officer, not directly to headquarters. Send the copy to headquarters as well.

What are the key dates for this scheme?

• 6 September 2010 — the BOCW Act and the Welfare Cess Act take effect in Sikkim.
• 26 February 2010, the Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board is constituted by notification No. 13/DL.
• 12 March 2015, notification No. 06/DL lays down 22 welfare schemes for registered workers, superseding the earlier notifications.
• 3 December 2016, the Board is re-constituted.
• 14 June 2018; notification No. 22/DL fixes the financial-assistance amounts; No. 24/DL of 13 August 2018 inserts "One Time" against pension and permanent disability.
• 21 April 2022, the Labour Department publishes the current BOCW welfare schemes sheet listing the one-time pension of Rs 2,00,000.

There is no application window. Registration and claims are accepted through the year at the district labour offices.

How do I raise a grievance?

Start with the District Labour Officer, who is the first authority for both registration and claims. If the Beneficiary Registering Officer refuses registration, Rule 266(2) gives you 30 days to appeal to the Board, and the Board's decision is final. For a rejected pension claim, Rule 272 allows an appeal to the Board within 60 days of receiving the order, and the Board may condone a delay for sufficient reason recorded in writing. For death-benefit decisions the appeal window under Rule 271(6) is 60 days.

Beyond that, the Labour Department can be approached directly at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok - 737102, by phone on 03592-201474 or the toll-free number 1800-345-1474, or by email at sikkimlabour@gmail.com. The Board's work is monitored under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India, a point the state records in its own gazette notifications on the subject.