The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Widow Pension Scheme

What is the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Widow Pension Scheme?

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Widow Pension Scheme is a Union Territory scheme implemented by the Directorate of Social Welfare, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, from its office at Goalghar, Port Blair. The scheme provides monthly financial assistance to poor and destitute widows across the islands.

The Directorate lists widow pension among its UT Schemes alongside Old Age Pension, Disability Allowance and Destitute Allowance, and all four are applied for on a single common application form headed "Application for grant of financial assistance". A widow ticks option (b), Widow Pension, at serial 1 of that form.

According to the scheme description published on the Government of India myScheme portal, the quantum of widow allowance is Rs 2,500 per month, subject to eligibility, and payment is made through the bank account on a monthly basis. The scheme is not a one-time grant, it is a recurring pension that continues so long as the conditions that justified it still hold.

Who is eligible for the widow pension in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands?

A widow qualifies if:

• She is a permanent resident of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, or has resided in the Union Territory for more than 10 years at the time of making the application. For proving residence, a Local Certificate or an Islander Identity Card issued by the competent authority is accepted; in the absence of both, a certificate issued by the Tehsildar of the respective Tehsil stating a stay of at least 10 years in the A&N Islands suffices.
• She is a poor widow. The scheme is aimed at destitution, not at widowhood alone.
• Her household income does not exceed Rs 4,000 per month. A Revenue Authority not below the rank of Tehsildar certifies this on the form itself.
• She is not availing any other financial assistance or grant from the government or from any other source.

Who cannot apply or is not eligible:

• A woman whose husband is alive cannot apply. A death certificate of the husband is a mandatory enclosure and there is no substitute for it.
• A widow whose household income exceeds Rs 4,000 a month is not eligible, however recently she was widowed.
• A widow who has lived in the islands for fewer than 10 years and is not a permanent resident cannot apply.
• A widow already drawing another government pension, allowance or grant is not eligible, and the form carries a declaration to this effect.
• A beneficiary who remarries ceases to be eligible, and so does one who becomes financially independent — the Directorate may establish either through due enquiry or from records.

How much is the A&N widow pension and how is it paid?

The allowance is Rs 2,500 per month. Payment is made through the bank account on a monthly basis, so the widow needs an operative savings account in her own name before the sanction can be given effect.

There is no lump sum component and no arrears clause published with the scheme. The pension runs forward from sanction, which is why a delay in submitting the Tehsildar's income certificate costs real money; every month spent chasing a document is a month of pension not drawn.

What documents are required for the widow pension?

The common form also carries a declaration in which the applicant states that the particulars are true, that she is not in receipt of any other financial assistance or grant, and that she undertakes to refund the entire amount to the government if the information furnished proves wrong at any time.

How to apply for the A&N widow pension

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Widow Pension Scheme is applied for offline. There is no online submission route published by the Directorate of Social Welfare for this scheme.

1. Obtain the application form. The form is available free of cost at the Directorate of Social Welfare, Goalghar, Port Blair, and at the sub-divisional offices of the Child Development Project Officers. It can also be downloaded from the Directorate's website at andssw1.and.nic.in/socialwelfare.
2. Fill in the form, ticking option (b) Widow Pension at serial 1, and completing the personal details, present address, category, bank account number, Aadhaar number and the table of family members with their ages and occupations.
3. Get the Tehsildar's certificate signed on the form. The Revenue Authority certifies both the 10-year residence and that the household income does not exceed Rs 4,000 per month, and lists the immovable property owned.
4. Obtain the CDPO's certificate stating that the applicant is not availing any kind of assistance or pension from the government.
5. Attach the enclosures: death certificate of the husband, local or domicile certificate, Aadhaar card, bank passbook copy, photograph and the community certificate if applicable.
6. Submit the completed application at the office of the concerned Child Development Project Officer. CDPO offices are located at Port Blair, Ferrargunj, Rangat, Diglipur and Car Nicobar.
7. Collect the acknowledgement and note the date of submission, which is what you will quote when following up.

How the application is processed

Applications for allowances under the Directorate's schemes are verified by the Mukhya Sevikas, countersigned by the concerned CDPO, and forwarded to the Director (Social Welfare) for sanction. The Director is the sanctioning authority and passes orders on each case.

Because the file physically moves from the island CDPO office to Port Blair, an application from Diglipur or Car Nicobar takes longer to reach sanction than one filed in Port Blair. Applicants from the outer islands should follow up with their own CDPO office rather than travelling to the Directorate.

Why widow pension applications get rejected

• Income certificate above Rs 4,000 a month. The ceiling is on household income, not on the widow's personal income, so earning adult children in the same household can take a family over the line.
• Residence not proved. Neither a Local Certificate nor an Islander Identity Card was produced, and no Tehsildar's certificate of 10 years' stay was attached.
• Another pension already being drawn, which the CDPO certificate exposes.
• Bank account not in the widow's own name, or a dormant account that cannot receive the monthly credit.
• Death certificate of the husband missing or issued in a name that does not match the applicant's records.
• Life certificate not submitted, which stops an existing pension rather than a new application. The Directorate has issued a press note on life certificates for all pensions it pays.

Key dates and continuing obligations

• The pension is credited every month once sanctioned.
• A life certificate must be furnished as required by the Directorate to keep payment running.
• Any change of address or circumstances should be reported to the Director, Social Welfare. The parallel disability scheme run by the same Directorate fixes this obligation at 15 days from the change, and the same practice is followed at the CDPO counters.
• Remarriage must be disclosed. Continuing to draw the pension after remarriage exposes the beneficiary to recovery under the refund undertaking signed on the application form.

Help and grievance redressal

• Directorate of Social Welfare, Goalghar, Port Blair 744101
• Telephone: 03192-233356
• Email: director-sw@and.nic.in
• Your CDPO office at Port Blair, Ferrargunj, Rangat, Diglipur or Car Nicobar, for anything to do with a pending or returned application

The form is free and the scheme is free. No agent can charge a widow a fee for having her name added to the pension list.

How to check your application status

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Widow Pension Scheme has no online tracking portal, so status has to be checked the way the application itself was filed: in person or by phone with the office that is actually holding the file.

1. Start with the CDPO office where you submitted the form. Your application first goes to the Mukhya Sevika for verification and then to the concerned Child Development Project Officer for countersignature, so for the first few weeks after submission this is the office most likely to know where your file physically sits. Quote the date of submission from your acknowledgement slip when you ask.
2. If the CDPO confirms the file has already moved forward, follow up at the Directorate of Social Welfare, Goalghar, Port Blair, since sanction rests with the Director (Social Welfare) once a case reaches that office. Calling 03192-233356 before travelling saves a trip for applicants outside Port Blair.
3. Applicants from Ferrargunj, Rangat, Diglipur or Car Nicobar should route every status query through their own CDPO office rather than the Directorate directly, since files from the outer islands take longer to reach Port Blair and the local CDPO is best placed to say where the delay is.
4. A written query works when a visit is not practical. A letter or email to director-sw@and.nic.in stating your name, the CDPO office where you applied and the date of submission lets the Directorate trace the file without an in-person visit.
5. Once the pension is sanctioned, check status through your bank account instead, since payment is credited monthly directly to the account given at the time of application. A missed monthly credit after an otherwise regular payment history is itself worth reporting to the Directorate, since it usually means a life certificate is due or the account has gone dormant.

There is no SMS or reference-number lookup for this scheme, and no third-party or agent can check status on a widow's behalf faster than these official channels, so treat any such offer as a red flag rather than a shortcut.