Chandranna Bima Scheme

What is the Chandranna Bima Scheme?

Chandranna Bima Scheme is a state-funded life and accident insurance programme of the Government of Andhra Pradesh for workers in the unorganised sector. The scheme was launched on 2 October 2016 and is administered by the Labour, Employment, Training and Factories Department, with the Gram and Ward Sachivalayam network acting as the delivery arm for enrolment, verification and claim intake.

Chandranna Bima exists because most workers in Andhra Pradesh have no employer behind them. An agricultural labourer, a hamali at a market yard, a street vendor or a tailor working from home does not get Employees' State Insurance or an EPF-linked death benefit. When such a worker dies or is permanently disabled, the household loses its only income overnight. Chandranna Bima is the state's answer: a group cover paid for out of the state budget, with the family paying nothing.

The scheme is widely known in Telugu as Chandranna Bheema, and readers who searched for "YSR Bima" have landed on the same programme; Andhra Pradesh renamed the scheme YSR Bima after 2019 and restored the Chandranna Bima name after the 2024 change of government. The underlying design, a state-paid group insurance cover for unorganised workers identified through the household survey, has stayed the same through both renamings.

Key features

• Cover for death of the enrolled worker, paid to the recorded nominee.
• Cover for permanent total disability and a smaller amount for permanent partial disability.
• Age band of 18 to 70 years at the time of the event.
• Income ceiling of about Rs 15,000 a month for the worker.
• No premium collected from the worker at the Sachivalayam counter.
• Payment made by Direct Benefit Transfer into the nominee's bank account.

Who is eligible for Chandranna Bima?

You are covered if:

• You are a resident of Andhra Pradesh and your household appears in the state's household survey and rice card database.
• You are aged between 18 and 70 years.
• You work in the unorganised sector: agricultural labour, construction labour, artisan trades, weaving, fishing, hamali and loading work, petty trade, street vending, shop and establishment employment, domestic work, tailoring, barbering, auto and cab driving, and similar occupations.
• Your monthly wage or earning is around Rs 15,000 or less.
• You have a bank account, and a nominee has been recorded against your name.

You are not eligible / cannot claim if:

• The worker was below 18 or above 70 at the time of death or disability.
• The worker is a regular government employee or a pensioner drawing a government pension, since that household already has statutory cover.
• The worker is covered by ESI or EPF through a formal employer for the same risk.
• The household's income is materially above the unorganised-worker ceiling used by the survey.
• The worker's name was never enrolled in the scheme list, enrolment is not automatic for everyone with a rice card, and an unenrolled name has no cover.
• The claim is for a cause specifically excluded by the group policy, such as death arising from a criminal act by the claimant.

The single most important practical point is this: eligibility on paper is not the same as enrolment. Households should confirm at the Village or Ward Secretariat that the earning member's name actually sits on the Chandranna Bima list, and that a nominee with a bank account is recorded, before anything happens. Families discover the gap at the worst possible moment otherwise.

How much does Chandranna Bima pay?

Chandranna Bima is structured in tiers, with the highest amount payable for accidental death and permanent total disability, a mid tier for natural death, and a proportionate amount for permanent partial disability assessed by a government medical board.

Published amounts have changed with each revision of the scheme since 2016, and different state notifications and news reports carry different figures: figures of Rs 5 lakh and higher have been announced at various points for the top tier. Because of this, the guide states the benefit as up to Rs 5 lakh and advises every family to confirm the currently sanctioned amount for their claim category with the Sachivalayam or the Assistant Commissioner of Labour rather than relying on a number seen online. Do not accept a figure quoted by a private agent.

Payment is made only by Direct Benefit Transfer into the nominee's bank account. No part of a Chandranna Bima claim is ever paid in cash, and no official is authorised to take a share of it.

How to enrol in Chandranna Bima

1. Visit your Village or Ward Secretariat (Gram/Ward Sachivalayam) with your Aadhaar card, rice card and bank passbook.
2. Ask the Welfare and Education Assistant or the Panchayat/Ward Secretary to check whether your name already appears on the Chandranna Bima list for your household.
3. If it does not, submit the enrolment particulars, occupation, monthly earning, age and Aadhaar, so the Sachivalayam can forward the entry to the Labour Department for inclusion.
4. Record a nominee: give the nominee's name, relationship, Aadhaar number and bank account details. A cover with no nominee on file is the commonest cause of delayed settlement.
5. Confirm that both your Aadhaar and the nominee's bank account are seeded, so a future DBT payment cannot fail.
6. Note down the acknowledgement or the survey entry reference given to you and re-verify your listing once a year.

There is no fee for enrolment. Village volunteers and Sachivalayam staff do this as part of their normal duties.

How to file a Chandranna Bima claim

1. Report the death or the disabling accident at the Village or Ward Secretariat as soon as possible; claim windows are short and a late intimation is a frequent reason for rejection.
2. Obtain the death certificate from the Gram Panchayat or municipality, or the disability certificate from a government medical board for a disability claim.
3. For an accidental death or injury, obtain a copy of the FIR, the post-mortem report and the inquest or police report.
4. Hand the full set — Aadhaar of the deceased or injured worker, rice card, nominee's Aadhaar and bank passbook, and the certificates above: to the Sachivalayam, which forwards the claim to the Labour Department for scrutiny and sanction.
5. Follow up with the Sachivalayam and, if there is no movement, with the Assistant Commissioner of Labour for your division.

How do I check my Chandranna Bima status?

Chandranna Bima has no self-service public status page of the kind PM-KISAN offers. The reliable route is to visit the Village or Ward Secretariat with the Aadhaar number of the enrolled worker and ask the Welfare and Education Assistant to look up the record in the department's beneficiary management system. The staff can tell you three things: whether the worker is enrolled, whether a nominee is recorded, and at which stage a filed claim is sitting.

Once a claim is sanctioned, the money reaches the nominee's bank account by DBT. Check the account's passbook or SMS alerts rather than waiting for a letter.

Why do Chandranna Bima claims fail?

• The worker was never enrolled. No enrolment means no cover, whatever the family's economic status.
• Age outside the 18–70 band at the time of the event.
• No nominee on record, or the nominee's Aadhaar and bank details do not match.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded or dormant, so the DBT credit bounces.
• Missing FIR or post-mortem report in an accidental death case.
• Delayed intimation, filed long after the event.
• Name or spelling mismatch between the death certificate, the Aadhaar record and the survey database.

Most of these are fixable. A spelling mismatch is corrected at the Sachivalayam; a dormant account is reactivated at the bank branch; a missing post-mortem report is obtained from the government hospital that conducted it.

Key dates and history

• 2 October 2016; Chandranna Bima launched by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for unorganised sector workers.
• After 2019, the scheme continued under the name YSR Bima, with revised benefit tiers and delivery through the Village and Ward Secretariat system.
• After June 2024. The Chandranna Bima name was restored by the incoming government and the scheme continued under the Labour Department.

Enrolment is open through the year. There is no announced last date to be added to the list.

Where do I complain about Chandranna Bima?

• Spandana grievance platform; spandana.ap.gov.in, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister's grievance redressal system.
• Toll-free 1902, the Spandana call centre; you receive a grievance number and SMS updates.
• Spandana Monday at the district collectorate, for in-person escalation.
• Assistant Commissioner of Labour of your division, or the Labour, Employment, Training and Factories Department at labour.ap.gov.in.

Chandranna Bima enrolment and claim filing are free at every stage. No government official or village volunteer may charge a fee, and no genuine official will ask for an OTP sent to your phone.