Step 1: Getting the labour card | ಕಾರ್ಮಿಕ ಕಾರ್ಡ್ ಪಡೆಯುವುದು

A BoCW labor card is an official identification card issued to construction workers who are eligible under the BoCW Act. This is the first basic document required to avail entitlements under the BoCW Act.

Every construction worker must renew their registration with the Board every 3 years. If not renewed within this period, a 1-year grace period is granted. After that, the registration becomes invalid.

Click here for labour card registration webpage

Click here for labour card renewal webpage

• Employment certificate ((Form V(A)/V(B)/V(C)/V(D)))- proof of having engaged in building and other construction (B&OC) work for a minimum of 90 days in the previous year. 

Click here to download the 90-day work certificate template

The employment certificate is validated by a labor inspector and employer/ registered labor union/ gram panchayat.

• Age- between 18 and 55 years
• Age proof- Voter ID or Aadhaar card
• Aadhaar card- linked to a mobile number (Self-Attested)
• Bank passbook copy
• Ration card (non-mandatory)

With a recent change in guidelines ration card is not mandatory now; till 6 months back this was a required document for labour card renewal.

• Nominee's bank passbook copy
• Nominee and children's correct name and age details

If nominee and children's details are not provided at this time or are incorrect, it will lead to difficulty in availing benefits under various schemes. 

• Gardeners, parking area employees etc. roles not considered construction work (CW).

Another example: a person drives a vehicle supplying water on construction sites. When the labour inspector calls for verification, he says I am a driver. So, the application gets rejected.

Trades such as mason, plumber, electrician are considered part of CW.

• Petty labourers don’t get the seal/ sign of contractors as they are often involved in irregular work at different worksites under different contractors.
• Physical verification of hands to figure out if the person is working with sand and cement. 
• Aadhar-mobile link mandatory, but workers change their mobile numbers frequently requiring repeated linking.

Hard labor affects accurate bio-metric fingerprints.

At the time of verification, worker may switch to another worksite hence not available on previous construction site where he applied from.

• In extreme cases, workers who have been in this occupation for 20 years don't know about their entitlements.

• Many times workers leave their necessary documents at native place when they come for work, especially migrants from UP & Bihar
• Having a bank account with an Aadhar-linked mobile phone is a prerequisite, and many workers either do not have an account and/ or Aadhar card or the account is not linked with their Aadhar.
• Names, age and address don’t match in different documents

Petty laborers often face challenges in obtaining the seal or signature of contractors for work certificates since they work irregularly at various sites.

• BOCW website doesn’t stay up for more than 10 minutes at a stretch- it frequently takes them 5 hours to fill one application form.
• Technical issues such as maximum document size for uploading (250KB) and space also pose an important challenges while uploading docs.
• Workers don’t remember the login details which remain with CSOs, so trust building takes time.
• Lack of access to smart phones and in many cases a single phone number used by multiple members of the household. With a single phone number, if both father and son are laborers, only one gets the benefit albeit both have phone linked Aadhaar cards.
• In certain instances, workers' essential documents are kept in their hometowns, and their families there do not possess smartphones to send images of necessary documents, such as Aadhar cards, ration cards, PAN cards, and bank passbooks.

• Many labourers have been unaffiliated with any CSOs and often resort to costly cyber-cafés for application; rejections lead to money loss, discouraging scheme registration.

• Some CSOs take money from applicants to apply for cards/ schemes.

• Workers don’t remember the login details which remain with CSO.

Cyber centers often bribe officers to get work done.

Workers often change their phone numbers frequently, and their Aadhar numbers may not be linked to their current phone numbers.

For all Aadhaar linkage work, OTP comes to the applicant’s phone but they refuse to cooperate because they are at work or don’t see phones for a long time. So this application process needs to be repeated multiple times as OTP has time-bound validity.

• Migrants often require a local address to benefit from various schemes, but they are reluctant to change their address due to concerns about missing out on opportunities in their home states or to preserve important documents and proofs.

Applicants, especially recent migrants, are hesitant to disclose all documents and information to CSOs (Civil Society Organizations).

Once the application gets rejected there is no refund. So, workers are apprehensive of wasting money and go via agencies.