{"id":43267,"date":"2022-05-12T17:57:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T12:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/?p=43267"},"modified":"2025-02-28T18:28:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T12:58:34","slug":"bocw-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"An overview of the BOCW Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The Building and Other Construction Workers Scheme, also known as BOCW Scheme, is a scheme introduced that assists unskilled labourers by helping them solve issues related to their intensive work and unfavourable conditions. This scheme is for citizens employed in infrastructure construction labour work who are categorized under unorganized labourers who are accustomed to working in accident-prone work environments and with a higher risk of irregular working hours, insecure employment, with insufficient availability of definite welfare facilities which disconsolate their daily survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"mt-3 mb-3 embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><iframe class=\"embed-responsive-item\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vKBRHO8Y6ZI\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Page Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/#Why_was_BOCW_Scheme_introduced\" >Why was BOCW Scheme introduced?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/#The_BOCW_Act_1996_introduced_through_BOCW_Scheme\" >The BOCW Act, 1996, introduced through BOCW Scheme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/#Difference_between_BOCW_Act_1996_and_Factories_Act_1948\" >Difference between BOCW Act, 1996 and Factories Act, 1948<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_was_BOCW_Scheme_introduced\"><\/span>Why was BOCW Scheme introduced?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As\nthere were no proper definitive legal provisions, it was quite a hassle to\nobtain legal help related to accidents and the employer providing work\nresponsibilities to their workers. There was also the unavailability of an\ninstrumental method to disseminate work properly. It was necessary to establish\nlaws dedicated to the safety of the labourers being employed and to establish\ndefinite welfare facilities and required essential services properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\ngovernment&#8217;s aim while introducing this scheme was to improve the labourers by\nproviding financial help under multiple schemes, providing laws that protect\ntheir safety while working in high-risk accident-prone construction sites and\nbenefiting them by improving the quality of living standards of their daily\nsurvival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_BOCW_Act_1996_introduced_through_BOCW_Scheme\"><\/span>The BOCW Act, 1996, introduced through BOCW Scheme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The\npreamble of the BOCW Act, 1966 states that for the purpose of safety and\nwell-being of unskilled labourers working for infrastructure and building\nconstruction work, this act was introduced for the proper regulation of working\nconditions for these labourers and any issues arising from these working\nconditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nSection 1 (3) and 1 (4) of The Building and Other Construction Workers\n(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996; which was enforced\non the 1st March 1996, applies to workers specifically in every industry that\nhires or had hired a minimum of ten construction workers for any infrastructure\nand building construction work in the duration of the past twelve months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\npurpose of the BOCW Scheme and The Building and Other Construction Workers\n(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>This act was established to observe the work environment of labourers employed for infrastructure construction work. This act is beneficial for implementing laws against robust work durations and sturdy working conditions. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The BOCW Scheme is a social welfare scheme introduced to support providing financial help and health benefits for workers employed for infrastructure construction work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 helps in regulating the employment and working conditions for labourers employed for infrastructure construction work, especially on issues related to workers&#8217; health, safety and welfare. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The BOCW Scheme is essential to ensure that the labourers employed for infrastructure construction work are not exploited and maintain a decent work environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This act is issued by the Government of India for all the State Governments for mandatory constitution of their own respective state&#8217;s BOCW welfare boards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>One of the essential functions of the BOCW Scheme is to provide the workers employed for infrastructure construction work with immediate assistance in case of any workplace accident, the help in regard to the issuance of loans for construction of the personal home, payment of insurance schemes, assisting financially for their children&#8217;s expenses related to educational fees, assisting in medical bills for workers employed and providing pensions for labourers employed for infrastructure construction work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The required age is from eighteen to sixty, and to have been working as a construction worker for a minimum of ninety days in the previous year for qualification for registering as a BOCW Welfare Fund Recipient under the <a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/bocw-act-registration\" title=\"BOCW Act\"><strong>BOCW Act<\/strong><\/a>. The registration fee for applying for registration cannot be more the fifty rupees. Application for registration is to be applied to the authorized officer appointed on the board&#8217;s behalf.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Difference_between_BOCW_Act_1996_and_Factories_Act_1948\"><\/span>Difference between BOCW Act, 1996 and Factories Act, 1948<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto Section 2 (e) of the BOCW Act, any labourer who may be skilled may have some\nor zero-knowledge; who can be hired for supervision, bookkeeping, mechanical or\nphysical labour is interpreted as a building worker and has rights that fall\nunder this act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As per Section 2(d) of the act, a building work labourer is an unskilled labourer who is open to working in infrastructure construction works such as the construction, alteration, repairs, maintenance or demolition \u2013 of or, in relation to, buildings; streets; roads; railways; tramways, artifields, water system, seepage, bank, and route works, flood damage control such as stormwater waste works, generating, transmitting and distributing of energy, waterworks such as stations for circulation of water), oil and gas establishments, electric lines, radio, TV, phone, broadcast and abroad transmissions, dams, canals, conduits, burrows, viaducts, aqueducts, pipelines, towers, cooling towers, transmission towers, etc., or similar related work which can be implied through the government&#8217;s behalf via official notices which exclude infrastructure and building construction work in relation to <strong>Factories Act, 1948<\/strong><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Factories_Act,_1948_(India)\"><strong>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/sup> and Mines Act, 1952.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\ndefinition is visible as according to Section 2 (l) of Factories Act, 1948, the\ndefinition of a worker is quite versatile, including labourers employed for the\nmanufacturing process, maintenance of machinery, or any work-related work to\nthe manufacturing of goods and services. According to the Factories Act, 1948,\na &#8220;worker&#8221; is not defined as a labourer working for infrastructure or\nbuilding construction work. Hence, for such labourers, the BOCW Scheme and Act\nwas a necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Central Government enacted the BOCW Scheme while giving the freedom to the State Government to set ethical procedures to help the unprivileged unskilled labourers, giving that the laws set in the BOCW Act, 1996 are not violated. Nevertheless, there were still loopholes, such as the confusion of which act to be applicable for construction labourers working in factories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the case of Lanco Anpara Power Ltd. V State of UP and Ors, 18th October 2016, The Supreme Court passed the judgement where The Court held that all the workers working on construction should be entitled to laws applicable through the BOCW Act,1996. Although there is still concern regarding the definition of &#8220;employer&#8221; according to the act, it is applicable to both contractors and the owners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Central Government is working on broadening the ambit of the act and making amendments so that the respective State Governments can implement laws that would be in the interest of unskilled labourers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related Blog:<\/strong> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/bocw-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">An overview of the BOCW Scheme<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Building and Other Construction Workers Scheme, also known as BOCW Scheme, is a scheme introduced that assists unskilled labourers by helping them solve issues related to their intensive work and unfavourable conditions. This scheme is for citizens employed in infrastructure construction labour work who are categorized under unorganized labourers who are accustomed to working [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":43270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2340],"tags":[2341],"acf":{"service_id":"386"},"authorName":"Sushree Dash","authorImageUrl":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-9.jpg","authorDescription":"Sushree Dash has completed BBA-LLB with a specialization in IPR Laws from KIIT University. As a recent graduate, she has both legal and management internship experience in international law firms, Indian law firms and under Indian litigation. She secures good drafting skills for various legal documents in multiple fields of law. She has also published multiple research papers in reputed UGC approved international journals.","postViews":5773,"readingTime":4,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43267"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68960,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43267\/revisions\/68960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}