Permanent Disability/Death Benefit for Construction Workers - Sikkim

What is the Permanent Disability/Death Benefit for construction workers in Sikkim?

Permanent Disability/Death Benefit for Construction Workers is the compensation paid by the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board when a registered building worker is permanently disabled or dies in the course of employment. The Board is constituted under Section 18 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 and functions under the Labour Department, Government of Sikkim at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok - 737102.

According to the Labour Department, the BOCW Act and the Welfare Cess Act have applied in Sikkim since 6 September 2010. The Board was first constituted by notification No. 13/DL dated 26 February 2010 and re-constituted on 3 December 2016. It framed 22 welfare schemes for registered workers by notification No. 06/DL dated 12 March 2015, and then fixed the cash amounts by gazette notification No. 22/DL dated 14 June 2018, published in the Sikkim Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 347 of 9 July 2018.

That 2018 notification sets out the amounts still shown on the department's current scheme sheet:

• Permanent disability or death occurring in the course of employment, Rs 1,50,000.
• Partial disability sustained in the course of employment, Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000, decided on the percentage of disability.
• Funeral expenses, Rs 10,000.
• Minor injury sustained in the course of employment; Rs 10,000.
• Medical assistance; Rs 10,000.

A follow-up notification, No. 24/DL dated 13 August 2018, inserted the words "One Time" against the pension and the permanent-disability/death entries, making clear that these are one-time payments rather than recurring ones.

Two further provisions sit in the Sikkim Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Rules, 2010 and are worth knowing because they cover smaller accidents that the headline figures do not. Rule 270 allows the Board to sanction Rs 200 for the first five days of hospitalisation and Rs 20 per day thereafter, up to Rs 1,000, for a beneficiary hospitalised five days or more after an accident, and the same for a worker put in plaster at home. Rule 271 provides a death benefit of Rs 10,000, rising to Rs 30,000 where the death is due to an accident during the course of employment, payable to the nominee or dependants, with the rider that it need not be paid where the Board has taken out a group insurance policy covering the worker's life. The 2018 gazette amounts are the higher and later figures, so a family should claim under those and let the district office apply the correct head.

Who is eligible for the disability and death benefit in Sikkim?

You can claim if:

• The worker was a registered beneficiary of the Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board, registered between the ages of 18 and 60 with at least 90 days of construction work in the preceding twelve months.
• The Rs 20 monthly contribution was being paid, remitted once every three months at a bank specified by the Board in the district.
• The permanent disability or death occurred in the course of employment, and can be evidenced by a medical certificate or death certificate, supported by an FIR or General Diary entry.
• You are the worker, or, where the worker has died. The nominee filed in Form XXXI or an immediate dependant. The Rules define dependants as the husband or wife, minor sons and unmarried daughters, and parents solely dependent on the worker.

You cannot apply if:

• The worker was never registered with the Board. Registration is the gateway to every benefit; there is no provision for a retrospective claim by an unregistered worker's family.
• Registration had lapsed for non-payment. Rule 267(2) says a beneficiary who defaults on the contribution continuously for one year ceases to be a beneficiary, and lapsed membership can be resumed only with the Secretary's permission and payment of arrears, no more than twice.
• The worker was outside the building and construction sector. The schemes notified in 2015 apply only within the state to workers engaged in building and other construction work.
• You are a contractor or employer rather than a building worker. Employers have duties under the Act; filing returns in Form XXXII, maintaining registers, not benefit entitlements.
• The claim is for a relative who was not a nominee or dependant as defined in the Rules.

How to apply for the permanent disability or death benefit

The claim route in Sikkim is entirely offline and runs through the district labour office. No online claim portal has been published for the Sikkim BOCW Board.

1. Get the medical or death record in order first. For disability, obtain a medical certificate stating the injury and the percentage of disability; Rule 271 asks for a certificate from a government doctor not below the rank of Assistant Surgeon. For a death, obtain the death certificate. Where the event happened at work, lodge an FIR or General Diary entry, the 2018 notification lists it against this category.
2. Collect the worker's Board identity card (Form XXVIII) and a letter from the concerned organisation or establishment confirming the engagement. These two documents appear against every financial-assistance category in the notification and are the most common reason a claim is sent back.
3. Fill the claim. A nominee claiming death benefit uses Form XXXV under Rule 271. Disability claims arising from an accident use Form XXXIV under Rule 270. The district office will tell you which head your case falls under.
4. Submit to the District Labour Officer of the district where the worker was engaged, and send a copy of the information to the Labour Department headquarters at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok - 737102, as the 2018 notification directs.
5. Cooperate with the enquiry. Under Rule 271(3) the Secretary or an authorised officer may hold an enquiry into the claimant's eligibility before sanction.
6. Collect the sanction. If the Secretary or the authorised officer is satisfied, the amount is sanctioned and entered in the register maintained in Form XXXVI.

What documents are required?

How do I check the status of a claim?

Sikkim has not published an online tracker for BOCW claims, so status is followed up in person or by phone.

• District Labour Officer — holds the file and the date of receipt.
• Labour Department headquarters, Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok - 737102 to receives the copy of every claim.
• Toll-free helpline 1800-345-1474, or the department on 03592-201474.
• BOCW nodal officer to 70769-26998. District numbers published by the department are East 90643-89842, Pakyong 90028-33969, South 96098-63959, West 95477-16798 and North 96359-98441.
• Email, sikkimlabour@gmail.com.

Why are claims rejected, and how do you fix it?

• Worker was not registered. This is the single largest cause. Nothing can be done after the event; the lesson for every working colleague on site is to register in Form XXVII with the Rs 20 fee.
• Contribution lapsed for over a year. Apply to the Secretary of the Board to resume membership on payment of arrears, permitted twice at most.
• No FIR or General Diary entry. Without it, the office cannot establish that the disability or death occurred in the course of employment, and the file stops. Lodge one as soon as the accident happens, not weeks later.
• Medical certificate does not state a percentage. A partial-disability payment ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 and is fixed on the percentage, an unquantified certificate cannot be assessed.
• Missing letter from the establishment. Where the contractor has left the site, ask the District Labour Officer to record the position; the department inspects construction sites and holds records of registered establishments.
• Claim filed by someone who is not the nominee or a dependant. Only the nominee in Form XXXI or a dependant as defined in the Rules can claim. If no nomination was filed, the dependants must establish their status.

What are the key dates?

• 26 February 2010, Sikkim BOCW Welfare Board constituted (No. 13/DL).
• 6 September 2010: BOCW Act and Welfare Cess Act take effect in Sikkim.
• 12 March 2015; notification No. 06/DL lays down 22 welfare schemes.
• 3 December 2016. The Board is re-constituted.
• 14 June 2018: notification No. 22/DL fixes Rs 1,50,000 for permanent disability or death and Rs 10,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for partial disability; published in Gazette No. 347 of 9 July 2018.
• 13 August 2018; notification No. 24/DL inserts "One Time" against those entries.
• 21 April 2022, the department publishes the current BOCW welfare schemes sheet.

Claims are accepted through the year; the department has not announced a closing date.

How do I raise a grievance?

The District Labour Officer is the first point of contact. Where the Board refuses registration, Rule 266(2) allows an appeal to the Board within 30 days. Where a death-benefit claim is decided against you, Rule 271(6) allows an appeal to the Board within 60 days of receiving the order, and the Board's decision is final. The Labour Department headquarters at Shram Bhawan, Sokaythang, Gangtok can be approached on 03592-201474, on the toll-free number 1800-345-1474, or at sikkimlabour@gmail.com. Sikkim's own gazette notifications record that implementation of the BOCW Act is monitored by the Supreme Court of India, which is a useful point to cite when a file has been lying without a decision.