Labour Welfare Organisation

Labour Welfare Organisation

Subordinate Office of the Ministry of Labour and Employment
Agency Overview
Abbreviation	LWO
Country	India
Parent Agency	Ministry of Labour and Employment
Website	https://labour.gov.in/mol/
Agency Executive
Director General of Labour Welfare (DGLW)	Alok Chandra (IES)
Deputy Director General (DDG)	Vinay Kumar Trivedi (CLS)

Labour Welfare Organisations (LWOs) are subordinate offices of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E), Government of India. The organisation is headed by the Director General of Labour Welfare (Joint Secretary, MoL&E). This organisation implements welfare schemes for unorganised workers such as beedi-workers, non-coal mine-workers and cine-workers. ^[1]

There are 18 LWO Regions, each headed by a Welfare Commissioner, an officer of the Central Labour Service (CLS). ^[2]

History

The welfare schemes administered by the Labour Welfare Organisations (LWO) are formulated based on provisions in the following acts of the parliament ^[3]

• Mica Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1946
• Limestone and Dolomite Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1972
• Beedi Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1976
• Iron Ore, Manganese Ore and Crome Ore Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1976
• Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981

Earlier these schemes were funded through collection of cess. But currently these cess are abolished and the schemes are funded by grants from the Government.

The Mica Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1946 and the Limestone and Dolomite Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1972 were repealed in 2018. ^[4] The Beedi Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1976 and the Iron Ore, Manganese Ore and Crome Ore Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1976 were repealed in 2019. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981 is proposed to be repealed once the Code on Social Security, 2020 is implemented. ^[8]

In 2024, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development recommended that the ceiling for reimbursement in health scheme should be considered for revision and the possibility of including more health conditions under the health scheme should be explored. ^[9] The same committee in 2025, recommended that the income ceiling of ₹10,000 per month for eligibility to avail scholarships should be considered for revision as it has not been revised since 2003. ^[10]

Organogram

The organisational structure of the Labour Welfare Organisation (LWO) is as follows ^[11]

Cabinet Minister (Labour & Employment)

Minister of State

Secretary (L&E)

Director General (Labour Welfare)

Deputy Director General

Welfare Commissioner

Medical Officer [Hospital]

Deputy Welfare Commissioner Assistant Welfare Commissioner [Administrative Wing]

Medical Officer [Dispensary]

LWO Regions

There are 18 Labour Welfare Organisations. ^{[12] [13] [3]}

Sl. No.	LWO	Region covered	Number of Hospitals	Number of Dispensaries
1	Ahmedabad	Gujarat		12
2	Ajmer	Rajasthan		23
3	Lucknow	Uttar Pradesh	1	24
4	Bangaluru	Karnataka	2	28
5	Bhubaneswar	Odisha	1	24
6	Chandigarh	Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana
7	Chennai	Tamil Nadu, Puducherry		22
8	Dehradun	Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh		1
9	Guwahati	Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram		2
10	Hyderabad	Andhra Pradesh, Telangana	1	25
11	Jabalpur	Madhya Pradesh	2	36
12	Thiruvananthapuram	Kerala, Lakshadweep		7
13	Kolkata	West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar islands,Sikkim	1	23
14	Nagpur	Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu		18
15	Patna	Bihar	1	17
16	Ranchi	Jharkhand	1	7
17	Raipur	Chhattisgarh		10
18	Srinagar	Jammu and Kashmir
Total			10	279

LWO Hospitals and Dispensaries

There are a total of 10 Hospitals and 279 Dispensaries under Labour Welfare Organisations located throughout India. These medical institutions are headed by Officers of the Central Health Service (CHS). ^[12]

LIST OF LWO HOSPITALS ^[14]

Sl. No.	Name of Hospital	Region	Bed Strength
1	Central Hospital, Barajamda	Ranchi	50
2	Central Hospital, Joda	Bhubaneswar	50
3	Central Hospital, Balaghat	Jabalpur	50
4	Central Hospital, Mysore	Bangalore	50
5	Central Hospital, Gursahaiganj	Lucknow	10
6	Central Hospital, Dhuliyan	Kolkata	65
7	Central Hospital, Sagar	Jabalpur	30
8	Central Hospital, Mukkudal	Hyderabad	30
9	Central Hospital, Bihar Sharif	Patna	30
10	Central Hospital, Yadgir	Bangalore	15

Types of Dispensaries (Modern Medicine/Ayurvedic)

• Beedi Workers Welfare Fund (BWWF) Dispensary
• Cine Workers Welfare Fund (CWWF) Dispensary ^[15]
• Limestone & Dolomite Mine Workers Welfare Fund (LSDMWWF) Dispensary
• Iron Ore, Manganese Ore & Chrome Ore Mine Workers Welfare Fund (IOMCWWF) Dispensary

These Dispensaries could be static or mobile (delivering services at the place of work).

Welfare Schemes

Health Scheme

The beneficiaries receive primary healthcare and medicines free of cost from the Dispensaries and Hospitals under Labour Welfare Organisation. Also reimbursement is provided for treatment availed for certain health conditions such as Heart diseases, Kidney transplantation, Cancer, etc. ^{[3] [16]}

Education Scheme

Financial assistance is provided to children of the beneficiaries. The scholarship amount ranges from ₹1000 to ₹25,000 per year. ^[17] Applications are processed through National Scholarship Portal. ^[18]

Housing Scheme

Subsidy of ₹1,50,000 was provided through Revised Integrated Housing Scheme (RIHS), 2016. This scheme no longer administered by LWO and is converged with Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) now. ^{[19] [20]}

See also

• Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E)
• Central Labour Service (CLS)
• Central Health Service (CHS)

References

1. "Press Release: Press Information Bureau".
2. https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/brief_about_lwo_and_its_scheme.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
3. Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour and Employment 2024-2025
4. "The repealing and amending act, 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-01-11.
5. "The repealing and amending act, 2019" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-01-11.
6. "Trade unions want beedi cess back, seek safety net for workers - India News | The Financial Express". Archived from the original on 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
7. "Labour Welfare Schemes Are Being Abolished By Modi Government – Latest India news, analysis and reports on IPA Newspack". ipanewspack.com. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
8. "The code on social security, 2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-28.
9. "Demands for grants (2024-25) - First report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-06-19.
10. "Demands for grants (2025-26) - First report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-06-13.
11. Handbook on Convergence by Ministry of Labour and Employment
12. "list of dispensaries" (PDF).
13. https://www.aninews.in/news/business/labour-ministry-highlights-progress-in-welfare-schemes-for-beedi-cine-and-mine-workers20240630093320/ ^{[ bare URL ]}
14. https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/brief_about_lwo_and_its_scheme.pdf ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
15. "Centre Nod for Cine Workers Welfare Dispensary in Thiruvananthapuram". www.newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
16. "Medical Care of Beedi Workers". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
17. "Press Release:Press Information Bureau". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
18. "Labour Ministry Guidelines of scholarhsips schemes" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-09.
19. "Press Release:Press Information Bureau". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
20. https://socialwelfare.vikaspedia.in/viewcontent/social-welfare/unorganised-sector-1/schemes-unorganised-sector/revised-integrated-housing-scheme-for-workers?lgn=en ^{[ bare URL ]}