Name Change in Jharkhand Labour Card and e-Shram Card
Two things people always get wrong about these cards. The first is that they are not the same card. The e-Shram card is a national registration of unorganised workers run by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The labour card most families in Jharkhand mean is the construction worker registration under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, issued by the State Welfare Board. Different law, different office, different card. The second is that neither of them lets you simply type a new name. The official e-Shram FAQs list what a worker may self-update, and the list runs mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification, skill types. Read it again. The name is not on it. And on these two records, unlike almost every other page here, a wrong name does not cost you a trip to a counter. It stops the money you are entitled to.
First work out which card you are holding, because the two are corrected in completely different ways. The e-Shram card is the national registration of unorganised workers. The Government describes the database as "verified and seeded with Aadhaar", and the official FAQs say a worker registers with an Aadhaar Number and an Aadhaar linked Mobile number. The FAQs also say that "during the registration, photo is retrieved from Aadhaar services. Therefore provision to update photo on eShram is not available". Hold on to that sentence, because it explains the whole design: what comes from Aadhaar is not edited on e-Shram. And when the FAQs list what a worker may self-update, they give "mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification, skill types". The name is not in that list. So an e-Shram name correction is an Aadhaar job, and the e-Shram record follows afterwards. The labour card is a different thing altogether. Under section 12 of the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, a building worker who "has completed eighteen years of age, but has not completed sixty years of age" and has been "engaged in any building or other construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months" may be registered as a beneficiary, on an application with documents and "such fee not exceeding fifty rupees as may be prescribed". Under section 13 the Board gives the registered beneficiary an identity card with his photograph and space for the employer to enter work done. That card is a working document, not a certificate you reprint, and correcting a name on it is a matter for the Welfare Board. No gazette is needed for either.
e-Shram Card and Labour Card in Jharkhand Are Two Different Cards
In Jharkhand both are called the labour card in ordinary speech, and that single habit sends people to the wrong office. Read your card and settle this before anything else.
| The point | e-Shram card | Construction worker labour card |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | The Ministry of Labour and Employment, as a national database of unorganised workers | The State Welfare Board constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 |
| Who it is for | Unorganised workers generally. The Government says registration is open across 30 broad occupation sectors and around 400 occupations | Building and other construction workers specifically, with conditions on age and days worked set by section 12 |
| The number on it | A UAN, a 12 digit Universal Account Number uniquely assigned to each registered unorganised worker | A registration as a beneficiary of the Board, evidenced by the identity card under section 13 |
| Where the name comes from | Aadhaar. The database is described by the Government as "verified and seeded with Aadhaar", and registration needs an Aadhaar number and an Aadhaar linked mobile number | From the application made to the Board. It is not an Aadhaar mirror, which is why the correction route is different |
| What the card physically is | A printed card carried from the portal, with the photo retrieved from Aadhaar services | A working document. Section 13 gives it a photograph and space for entering the details of construction work done, which the employer fills in and authenticates |
| How a name is corrected | Fix Aadhaar, then bring the e-Shram record into line. The name is not on the portal's self-update list | A matter for the Board, on your identity documents. Ask the Board what it needs |
e-Shram Card Name Correction: Why Your Name Is Not on the Update List
This section is quoted from the official e-Shram FAQs and a Government press release rather than from practice. It answers the question people actually have, which is why the portal will not let them retype their own name.
| What the source says | What it means for your name |
|---|---|
| Registration needs an Aadhaar Number and an Aadhaar linked Mobile number, and a worker "may register himself or herself by visiting e-Shram portal or through assisted approach by visiting nearest CSC" | Aadhaar is not one document among several here. It is the key the whole registration turns on, which is the first clue about where a name correction belongs |
| The Government describes the database as a National Database of Unorganised Workers "verified and seeded with Aadhaar" | Seeded is the word that matters. The record is grown from Aadhaar rather than typed independently of it |
| The FAQs say that "during the registration, photo is retrieved from Aadhaar services. Therefore provision to update photo on eShram is not available" | Read the word therefore. The portal states its own logic plainly: what comes from Aadhaar is not edited on e-Shram. That is the design, not a fault |
| The FAQs say workers "can self-update their details by visiting e-Shram portal or through CSC's" and may update particulars "such as mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification, skill types" | The name is not in that list. Mobile, address, occupation, qualification, skills. No name. This is the single most useful line on the page and no other website we found quotes it |
| A UAN is "a 12 digit number uniquely assigned to each unorganised worker after registration" | Your UAN identifies you. Quote it in any request, and keep it written down somewhere other than the card itself |
| Registration is available by self-registration and by assisted mode through Common Service Centres and State Seva Kendras | Which means a worker who cannot manage the portal has a counter to go to. For a name question, go to the counter with the corrected Aadhaar in hand and not before |
Construction Worker Labour Card in Jharkhand: What the BOCW Act Provides
The construction worker card sits under a central Act with a State Welfare Board administering it. Three provisions decide almost everything a worker needs to know, and two of them are worth knowing even if your name is perfectly correct.
| The provision | What it says, and why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Section 12, who may be registered as a beneficiary | A building worker who "has completed eighteen years of age, but has not completed sixty years of age" and who has been "engaged in any building or other construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months". Two hard conditions, and workers are rarely told the second one until it is raised against them |
| Section 12, the application and the fee | The application is "accompanied by such documents together with such fee not exceeding fifty rupees as may be prescribed". Note the words not exceeding fifty rupees. That is a statutory ceiling on the registration fee, and it is worth quoting if a larger sum is ever demanded |
| Section 13(1), the identity card | The registered beneficiary is given "an identity card with his photograph duly affixed thereon and with enough space for entering the details of the building or other construction work done by him". So the card is designed to be written in, which is why it is not simply reprinted |
| Section 13(2), the employer's duty | The employer shall "enter in the identity card the details of the building or other construction work done by the beneficiary and authenticate the same". Your card carries a work history authenticated by employers, which is exactly the evidence the ninety day condition needs |
| Section 13(3), your duty | The beneficiary shall "produce the same whenever demanded by any officer of Government or the Board, any inspector or any other authority for inspection". So this card gets looked at by officials, which is precisely when a wrong name becomes a problem |
| Where a name correction goes | To the Welfare Board, on your identity documents. Unlike e-Shram this is not an Aadhaar mirror, so the Board decides on what you produce to it |
What a Wrong Name on a Labour Card or e-Shram Card Actually Costs
On most pages of this website a wrong name costs you an afternoon. On this one it can cost you the thing the card exists to deliver, and it usually does so silently.
The money has to reach a bank account
Welfare payments are paid into an account, and an account has a name on it too. A card in one form of your name feeding an account in another is where a payment quietly fails.
Nobody tells you it failed
This is the cruel part. A rejected credit does not usually come with an explanation to the worker. The benefit simply does not arrive, and the assumption is that it was never sanctioned.
The card is inspected by officials
Section 13(3) requires the beneficiary to produce the identity card whenever demanded by an officer, the Board, an inspector or any other authority. A mismatch surfaces there, in front of somebody with a register.
It surfaces at the worst moment
An accident, a hospital admission, a death in the family, a daughter's scholarship application. These records are used when something has already gone wrong, which is not the moment to discover a spelling problem.
The worker is often away from home
Construction work moves. A worker from Gumla or Simdega on a site in another State cannot easily return to a Jharkhand office to argue about a name, which is why fixing it early matters here more than anywhere.
The family is the one that needs it
Very often the person who has to use the card is not the worker but the family, and they are dealing with the office at the hardest time of their lives with a paper they did not prepare.
How to Correct a Name on a Labour Card or e-Shram Card in Jharkhand
Identify which card you are holding
A twelve digit UAN means e-Shram. Spaces for an employer to enter work done means the Welfare Board card. Many workers hold both, and then you have two jobs.
Settle the exact spelling once
Letter by letter, in the form your other papers carry. Aadhaar charges per attempt with no refund and limits name updates, so decide before you go, not at the counter.
Correct Aadhaar first for e-Shram
Because the database is seeded with Aadhaar and the name is not on the portal's self-update list. Our Aadhaar page covers that route.
Then update the e-Shram record
On the portal or through a Common Service Centre, with the corrected Aadhaar in hand. Quote your UAN and take the corrected Aadhaar with you.
For the labour card, go to the Welfare Board
Not to a Common Service Centre and not to the e-Shram portal. The Board holds that registration and the Board decides a correction on what you produce to it.
Ask the Board what it needs, in writing
We print no Jharkhand form number, fee or timeline, because we could not read the State rules. Let the Board's own written answer be your list, and keep it.
Ask what happens to your work entries
Section 13 makes the card the place employers enter and authenticate construction work done. Protect that history. Ask, before the card changes hands, how the entries carry over.
Check the bank account in the same week
Because that is where the money lands. A corrected card feeding an account in the old name has not solved anything, it has moved the failure one step down.
Keep every acknowledgement
The received stamp on your own copy of anything you hand in. For a worker who travels for work, that folder is often the only proof an application ever happened.
Read both cards again when they come back
Letter by letter, and check the UAN and the registration number did not change while the name was being fixed. Catch a fresh error on the day it appears.
Bring the rest of the family's records into line
The ration card, the caste certificate and the children's school records usually carry the same spelling problem.
Ask for any refusal in writing
One polite sentence, once. Most refusals end at that request. It also gives you something to take a level higher if it does not.
Where the difficulty is a tribal surname spelt two ways, see our tribal surname spelling correction page, and where the record carries a Hindi form of a name against an English one elsewhere, our Hindi to English name spelling difference page sets out how to choose.
Central Gazette Process for a Name From Jharkhand, and Where It Fits a Worker's Card
No district in Jharkhand has a gazette counter, so a genuine file goes from Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Deoghar or anywhere else in the state to the Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054, and the notice publishes in Part IV of the Gazette of India. As reported in July 2025 the Finance Department stopped personal name change notifications from the Jharkhand Government Press with immediate effect, so there is no state alternative to fall back on.
The Eight Steps of a Name File Sent From Jharkhand
Settle the final name first
Letter by letter, with the spacing you want, and then use exactly that everywhere, Aadhaar included. A corrigendum after publication is a second fee and a second wait.
Pick the category, then its proforma
A genuine change of name is change of Name Adult or Major. A wrongly typed spelling is the public notice for a wrongly written name. Twelve categories exist and only one is yours.
Type the proforma in duplicate
Two originals with two witnesses giving signature, full name, address and mobile number on both copies. A change of name is signed in the old name; a public notice is signed in your own name.
Fill the employment field if it is a change of name
The adult proforma asks for the post of the applicant and the office or company name. A worker without a formal employer should still complete it rather than leaving it blank, because a blank field brings the file back.
Publish and keep the original paper
One of the daily local leading newspapers, carrying both names in full, the father or husband name and the residential address. The whole original paper goes in the file, not a cutting.
Pay only through BharatKosh
The Non Tax Receipt Portal and nowhere else since October 2018. Select the Department of Publication by name, read the amount the portal shows on the day, pay in your own name and print the e-receipt.
Check every date, then post it yourself
Nothing in the file older than one year. Personally or by post or courier only, never through an agent or advocate. Photocopy everything first, because nothing sent in comes back.
Read the notice, then update in the right order
Check every word the day it publishes, download the e-Gazette copy of that Part IV issue, and then work through Aadhaar first, the bank account next, and the worker cards after them.
The Five Papers in the File, and What Is Checked in Each
| The paper | What is checked in it, clause by clause |
|---|---|
| 1. The proforma, in duplicate | That it is the right category format; the existing full name exactly as your documents carry it; the new full name exactly as settled; the father or husband name; the full address with pin code; the post and office or company name where it is a change of name; the signature in the right name for the category; two witnesses complete with signature, full name, address and mobile number |
| 2. The affidavit or undertaking | The same names and address as the proforma, word for word, with wording matching the category. On Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper as our safe default |
| 3. The original newspaper | The original paper, not a cutting; the paper name and date of publication visible; both names carried; the father or husband name and residential address; dated within the last year |
| 4. Photographs, identity proof and any category paper | Two self attested passport photographs; self attested identity and address proof matching the proforma address; both witnesses proofs; and, in a public notice file, the attested photocopy of the connected document carrying the error |
| 5. The CD, its certificate and the BharatKosh receipt | MS Word, without the witness portion, with the name typed in place of the signature; the certificate that the hard copy and the soft copy are the same; the forwarding letter to the Controller of Publication with a telephone number and email; the e-receipt |
The posting detail is on the sending the file to Delhi page, the change of name wording on the proforma format page and the public notice wording on the public notice proforma page, the charge by category on the fee and undertaking page, the reasons files come back on the rejection reasons page, and the download on the download page.
What a Labour Card and e-Shram Name Correction Costs in Jharkhand
| Item | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Identifying which card you hold | Nothing, and it decides the whole job. A twelve digit UAN means e-Shram. Employer entry spaces mean the Welfare Board card | Two minutes with the card in hand |
| Registration as a BOCW beneficiary | The Act says the application goes with documents and "such fee not exceeding fifty rupees as may be prescribed". That statutory ceiling is the one figure we can quote with confidence on this page. The actual prescribed amount is set by the State rules, which we could not read | Set by the Board |
| A name correction on the labour card | We print no figure, because we could not read the Jharkhand rules. Ask the Welfare Board what, if anything, is payable and under which rule, and ask for that answer in writing | Set by the Board. We print no timeline we have not verified |
| Correcting Aadhaar first, which for e-Shram is the whole job | Aadhaar charges a fee per attempt with no refund, and limits how often a name may be updated. Decide the exact spelling before you go, because a wasted attempt costs money and an allowance both | Set by the centre |
| Updating the e-Shram record afterwards | Self-update on the portal, or the assisted route through a Common Service Centre. We print no charge, because we verified none | Set by the portal or the centre |
| Affidavit, where an office asks for one | Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper and the notary charge. Note that this is twice the statutory registration fee ceiling, so do not buy one before somebody actually asks for it | The same day |
| Government printing charge, only in a genuine change of your own name | The guidelines print Rs 1,100 for an adult change of name and Rs 1,400 for a public notice, for FY 2016 to 2017, each with the caveat that the charge varies each financial year and from case to case. What BharatKosh shows on the payment screen the day you pay is the figure that counts | Part IV publishes weekly, so allow several weeks from posting |
| Our charge | Quoted on your papers before you pay anything, and confirmed in writing. We print no service price on any page of this site, and on this page we will often tell you the job is a free Aadhaar correction and nothing else | |
Myths About Labour Card and e-Shram Card Name Changes
| What people are told | What is actually so |
|---|---|
| The e-Shram card and the labour card are the same thing | They are not. e-Shram is the Ministry of Labour and Employment national registration with a twelve digit UAN. The labour card most families mean is construction worker registration with the State Welfare Board under the BOCW Act, 1996. Different law, different office, different card |
| A gazette notification will fix the name on a worker's card | It will not, and this is the most expensive myth on this website. Neither card is published anywhere. The Act sets the beneficiary registration fee at not exceeding fifty rupees, and a gazette file costs many times that and corrects neither card |
| You can retype your name on the e-Shram portal | The official FAQs list what a worker may self-update as "mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification, skill types". The name is not in that list. The database is "seeded with Aadhaar", so the name is an Aadhaar job |
| Take the e-Shram card to the labour office, they are all Government | They are all Government and they hold different registers. The Welfare Board cannot amend a national e-Shram record and a Common Service Centre cannot amend a Board registration. Take the right card to the right office |
| Fix the card and the benefit will come | Only if the bank account agrees as well, because that is where the money lands. A corrected card feeding an account in the old name has not solved the problem, it has moved it one step down |
| A labour card can be reprinted like any certificate | Not quite. Section 13 gives the beneficiary an identity card with a photograph and space for entering details of construction work done, which the employer enters and authenticates. Your card carries a work history, so ask what happens to those entries before it changes hands |
| Anyone who works on a site can register as a beneficiary | Section 12 sets two conditions: the worker must have completed eighteen but not sixty years of age, and must have been engaged in construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months. Workers are rarely told the second one until it is raised against them |
| The registration fee is whatever the office says | The Act says "such fee not exceeding fifty rupees as may be prescribed". That is a ceiling in the Act. If a larger sum is demanded for registration, ask under which rule, politely, and ask for the answer in writing |
| It can wait until the benefit is needed | The worst possible timing. These cards are used at an accident, a hospital admission, a death or a scholarship deadline, and section 13(3) requires the card to be produced whenever demanded by an officer or inspector. Sort it out on a quiet day |
| Any website's Jharkhand procedure will do | Be careful. We could not read the Jharkhand BOCW Rules, 2006 when writing this page, so we print no State form number, fee or timeline. Other pages print all three. Check theirs against the Welfare Board before you rely on them |
Key Terms in a Labour Card and e-Shram Name Correction
| Term | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| e-Shram | The national database of unorganised workers run by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, described by the Government as verified and seeded with Aadhaar |
| UAN | The Universal Account Number, a twelve digit number uniquely assigned to each unorganised worker after registration on e-Shram. The quickest way to tell which card you hold |
| Seeded with Aadhaar | The record is grown from Aadhaar rather than typed independently of it. The reason the name is not on the self-update list |
| Self-update | What a worker may change on the portal or through a Common Service Centre: mobile number, current address, occupation, educational qualification and skill types. Not the name |
| Common Service Centre | The assisted registration route, alongside State Seva Kendras. Where a worker who cannot manage the portal goes, with the corrected Aadhaar in hand |
| BOCW Act | The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, under which the construction worker card is issued |
| Beneficiary | A building worker registered with the Welfare Board under section 12. The status the labour card evidences |
| The ninety days | The section 12 condition of engagement in construction work for not less than ninety days during the preceding twelve months. What the work entries on your card evidence |
| Identity card | What section 13 gives a registered beneficiary: a card with a photograph and space for entering the details of construction work done, entered and authenticated by the employer |
| Not exceeding fifty rupees | The ceiling the Act places on the prescribed registration fee. A figure worth knowing and worth quoting |
| Welfare Board | The State Board constituted under the Act that registers beneficiaries and administers welfare. Where a labour card correction goes |
| Direct credit to a bank account | How welfare money reaches a worker. The reason the bank account name has to agree with the card, and where a mismatch silently stops a payment |
Labour Card and e-Shram Name Correction Help Across Jharkhand
Construction work moves, and a worker from Gumla, Simdega, Khunti or Garhwa may be on a site far from the office that holds his registration. That is exactly why this job is worth doing before it is needed. Telling you which of the two cards you hold, whether your case is an Aadhaar correction or a Welfare Board one, which spelling should stand across the card, the Aadhaar and the bank passbook, and what to ask each office for is done on your scans over WhatsApp, for every district. Where the honest answer is that the whole job is a free Aadhaar correction, that is what our first reply will say.
District pages are linked from the services page.
Send the card and we will tell you which one it is
Send a photograph of both sides of the card, your Aadhaar, and the first page of the bank passbook. If you hold both an e-Shram card and a Welfare Board card, send both. Tell us the district and whether the worker is away on a site at the moment, because that changes what is practical. Our first reply tells you which card you are actually holding, whether the job is an Aadhaar correction or a Welfare Board one, which spelling should stand across the card, the Aadhaar and the bank account, and what to ask each office for. If the whole job is a free Aadhaar correction and nothing else, that is what we will tell you, and we will not invent work. Details on the contact page.
- 📞Call 9540005002
Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM - WhatsApp 9540005064
Send your scans here, it is the fastest way - ✉️info@jharkhandnamechange.com
- 📍Ranchi office: Main Building, Near Shaheed Chowk, Ranchi, Jharkhand 834001
- 🏛️Head office (Gazette filing desk): Metro Pillar No. 377, Near Burari Metro Station, Shop No. B-1, Ground Floor, Gali No. 1, Khasra No. 31/12, Hardev Nagar, Jharoda Majra, Burari, Delhi 110084
Labour Card and e-Shram Card Name Change: Frequently Asked Questions
Is the e-Shram card the same as the labour card?
Why can I not change my name on the e-Shram portal?
So how do I correct the name on my e-Shram card?
Do I need a gazette notification for a labour card or e-Shram name change?
Who can register as a construction worker beneficiary?
What exactly is the labour card under the Act?
Will I lose my work entries if the card is corrected?
What documents and fee does the Jharkhand Welfare Board want?
I fixed the card but the benefit still has not come. Why?
My surname is spelt one way on the card and another on my caste certificate.
The worker is away on a site in another State. Can this still be done?
How much of this can you do for me?
Official Sources on Labour Card and e-Shram Records
- e-Shram portal, frequently asked questionsThe official FAQs, for the Aadhaar requirement, the photo being retrieved from Aadhaar services, the list of particulars a worker may self-update, and the definition of the UAN.
- e-Shram portal, Ministry of Labour and EmploymentThe portal itself, for registration, self-update and the assisted route, and the place to confirm anything about the current process.
- Press Information Bureau, salient features of the e-Shram portalThe Government release describing the database as verified and seeded with Aadhaar, the UAN, the occupation sectors covered, and the self and assisted registration routes.
- Ministry of Labour and EmploymentThe Ministry that runs e-Shram and administers the central labour legislation behind the construction worker card.
- India Code, Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996The Act itself, where sections 12 and 13 quoted on this page should be read in full before anybody relies on them.
- Chief Labour Commissioner, building and other construction workersThe central labour authority's own page for this Act and its rules.
- Shram Adhan, Labour Department, Government of JharkhandThe State Labour Department's portal, and the place to confirm the Jharkhand rules, the Board office for your district and any current fee.
- Government of JharkhandFor the Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department and the State Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.
- Unique Identification Authority of IndiaFor the Aadhaar name update route and the limits on how often a name may be updated, which is where an e-Shram name correction actually begins.
- Department of PublicationFor the twelve gazette categories and their proformas, in the separate case where your own name is genuinely being changed.
- BharatKosh, the Non Tax Receipt PortalThe only route for the Government printing charge since October 2018, and the only place the amount of the day can be read.
A Worker Card Name Correction in Eight Lines
The short version
- e-Shram and the labour card are two different cards.
- A twelve digit UAN means it is the e-Shram one.
- The e-Shram name is not on the portal's self-update list.
- So fix Aadhaar first, then the e-Shram record follows.
- The labour card is a Welfare Board matter under the BOCW Act.
- That card carries employer work entries, so protect them.
- Registration fee under the Act is not to exceed Rs 50.
- Check the bank account too, because that is where money lands.
Send the card and we will tell you whether there is anything to pay for at all.
Often the whole job is a free Aadhaar correction. If that is the answer, that is what our first reply will say, and nobody should be selling a daily wage worker a gazette file for a spelling.