Patiala, Jan. 11 -- Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare (BOCW) Board has revised the matrix of the monthly old-age pension and family pension of registered construction workers. According to the new order issued on January 8 (a copy of which is with HT), the eligibility duration of registered membership to get the pension of Rs.3,000 and family pension of Rs.1,500 has been increased from three years to 10 years. The monthly pension and family pension for members who have been registered for three years have been reduced to Rs.1,000 and Rs.500, respectively. The revised pension structure came into effect from December 1, 2025, onwards after approval from chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who is ex-officio chairman of the board. Under the new framework, only workers with more than ten years of membership will be eligible for the monthly pension of Rs.3,000 and a family pension of Rs.1,500. Those with seven to ten years of membership will receive Rs.2,000 as pension and Rs.1,000 as family pension, the order further said. Construction workers with three years of membership will now receive a monthly pension of just Rs.1,000 and a family pension of Rs.500. Manvesh Singh Sidhu, principal secretary, labour department, said the board was earlier providing a pension of Rs.3,000 to workers who had completed three years of continuous membership by the time they attained the age of 60. "If a construction worker remains enrolled with the Punjab BOCW Board for three years till he turns 60, will now get Rs.1,000," Sidhu said. Department officials, familiar with the matter, said the decision was taken to reduce the financial burden on the welfare board. "The financial burden has been increasing; therefore, we decided to change the criteria," said an official, pleading anonymity. The revised structure has drawn criticism from labour activists, who argued that instead of increasing the pension, given the soaring living costs, the reduction would adversely affect elderly construction workers. Sardara Singh, president of the Dr Ambedkar Workers Union, Punjab, termed the move a violation of Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution. "This will create pension disparity among workers, Earlier pensioners will continue to get Rs.3,000 while new pensioners, with same registration period, will be getting Rs.1,000," he said, adding that with the implementation of the four labour codes scheduled from April 1, 2026, there was no need to alter the pension structure at this stage as it would undergo further changes once the new labour laws come into force....