Accidental Death Assistance Scheme (Gujarat Labour Welfare Board)

What is the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme of the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board?

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme is a welfare measure run by the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board, a statutory body under the Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department of the Government of Gujarat. The Board was constituted under the Bombay Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1953 as applied to Gujarat, and it funds its schemes from the Labour Welfare Fund. A small periodic contribution collected from workers and matched by employers in covered establishments.

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme pays Rs 2,00,000 to the family of a worker, called a shramyogi in Gujarati, who dies because of an accident during the course of employment. The scheme exists because a sudden industrial death removes the only earning member of a household overnight, usually before any statutory compensation, provident fund or gratuity settlement can be processed. The Board's payment is meant to bridge that gap quickly.

The scheme is listed on the Board's welfare schemes page as the "Accidental Death Scheme", and applications are accepted only through the Sanman portal at sanman.gujarat.gov.in, the common online window that the Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department uses for both the Labour Welfare Board and the construction workers' board.

Key features

• One-time cash assistance of Rs 2,00,000 to the heirs of the deceased worker.
• Funded from the Gujarat Labour Welfare Fund, not from an insurance policy, so there is no premium for the worker to pay.
• Paid by direct benefit transfer into the heir's bank account.
• Restricted to accidental death in the course of employment; illness and natural death are excluded.
• Claim window of 2 years from the date of death.

Who is eligible for the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme?

A family can claim if:

• The deceased was a worker (shramyogi) employed in a factory, company or establishment in Gujarat that is covered by the Labour Welfare Fund.
• The employer had been paying the Labour Welfare Fund contribution regularly for that worker. This is the condition that decides most claims.
• Death was caused by an accident during the course of employment.
• The claimant is a legal heir: spouse, minor or adult child, or dependent parent; able to produce an heirship certificate or affidavit.
• The claim is filed within 2 years of the date of death.

A family is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• The worker died of illness, disease or natural causes. According to the scheme description on the myScheme portal, post-sickness and natural death are specifically not admissible.
• The establishment did not pay the Labour Welfare Fund for the worker, or paid it irregularly. Board records, not the family's word, decide this.
• The deceased was a construction worker. Construction labour falls under the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, whose own Accidental Death Assistance Scheme pays Rs 3,00,000.
• The worker was self-employed or worked in an establishment outside the Labour Welfare Fund's coverage, such as a purely agricultural holding.
• More than 2 years have passed since the death.

There is no separate income ceiling and no requirement that the family holds a BPL ration card. The test is employment in a covered establishment, not poverty.

How much assistance does the scheme provide?

The Gujarat Labour Welfare Board provides Rs 2,00,000 as a single payment. There is no instalment structure, no monthly pension component and no separate funeral grant inside this scheme. The amount is credited to the bank account of the approved heir after the file clears the district office and the head office in Ahmedabad.

Families should treat this money as separate from, and in addition to, any other entitlement that arises from the same death. Depending on the employment, a household may also be able to claim compensation under the Employees' Compensation Act, an ESIC dependants' benefit, an EPF and EDLI settlement, and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti or Suraksha Bima payout if the worker had enrolled. Claiming Labour Welfare Board assistance does not bar any of these.

What documents are required?

Every document should be legible, and the name of the deceased should be spelt identically across the death certificate, the employer record and the Aadhaar card. A name mismatch is the second most common reason a Sanman file is sent back for correction.

How to apply for the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme online

1. Open the Sanman portal at sanman.gujarat.gov.in, the online window of the Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department, Government of Gujarat.
2. Select Registration and create a login for the claimant heir using a mobile number and Aadhaar details. Keep the mobile phone handy because the portal verifies it by OTP.
3. Log in, choose the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board section and open the Accidental Death Assistance Scheme application form.
4. Enter the deceased worker's details — name, date of birth, employer name, factory or establishment registration details, and the date and place of the accident.
5. Enter the heir's details, including the bank account number and IFSC code that the assistance should be credited to.
6. Upload scanned copies of every document in the table above, within the file size the portal specifies.
7. Submit the form and save the application number shown on the confirmation screen. This number is what you will use for every follow-up.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the district office of the Gujarat Labour Welfare Board for the district where the establishment is located, or the head office at Shramyogi Kalyan Bhavan, "G" Colony, opposite the water tank, Sukhramnagar, Ahmedabad
3. Ask for the prescribed Accidental Death Assistance claim form and fill it in with the employer's countersignature where required.
4. Attach self-attested copies of the death certificate, DISH accident report, FIR, panchnama, post-mortem report, heirship proof and bank passbook.
5. Submit the file and collect the acknowledgement. The district staff enter the claim on the Sanman portal, so an offline claim ends up in the same queue as an online one.

How to check the status of your claim

1. Log in to sanman.gujarat.gov.in with the same credentials used to apply.
2. Open My Applications and enter your application number.
3. The screen shows the current stage; pending at district level, approved at district level, pending at head office, sanctioned, or payment released.
4. If the status has not moved for several weeks, call the Board's toll free number 1800-233-1961 with the application number, or visit the district office.

The Board's contact page states that the same toll free number handles queries about both Labour Welfare Fund registration and payment on glwbcrm.gujarat.gov.in and application submission on the Sanman portal.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• No DISH accident report. Where the death occurred inside a factory, the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health must report the accident. Ask the employer to file the accident report; the family cannot generate it alone.
• Labour Welfare Fund not paid. If Board records show the establishment defaulted, the claim fails. Ask the employer for the payment challans and submit them; if the employer genuinely defaulted, raise the matter with the Labour Commissioner's office.
• Death treated as natural. If the post-mortem records illness rather than injury, the claim is outside the scheme.
• Time bar. Filing after 2 years from the date of death.
• Heirship dispute. More than one claimant for the same worker. The Board will wait for a succession certificate or a clear affidavit before releasing money.
• Bank details wrong. A closed account or a wrong IFSC causes the DBT to fail even after sanction. Correct it in the portal and the payment is re-attempted.

Key dates and deadlines

Accidental Death Assistance Scheme has no application season, a claim can be filed on any working day of the year, because the trigger is the death itself. The only deadline that matters is the 2-year limit from the date of death. Families that expect delays in obtaining a post-mortem report or DISH report should still file within the window and upload the pending document later, rather than wait and lose eligibility.

How to raise a grievance

• Toll free helpline: 1800-233-1961
• Board office phone: 079-22773303 to 079-22773306
• Email: glwb1961[at]gmail[dot]com
• Head office: Gujarat Labour Welfare Board, Shramyogi Kalyan Bhavan, "G" Colony, opposite water tank, Sukhramnagar, Ahmedabad 380021
• Feedback form on glwb.gujarat.gov.in

If the district office does not act, escalate in writing to the Welfare Commissioner at the head office, quoting the Sanman application number and the date of submission. Applying is free at every stage.