Shraddhanjali Scheme

What is the Shraddhanjali Scheme?

Shraddhanjali Scheme is a Government of Assam initiative that arranges, at state cost, the return of the mortal remains of a bonafide Assam resident who dies in another Indian state. The scheme was cleared by the Assam Cabinet on 22 June 2025 and formally launched on 6 October 2025.

Shraddhanjali sits with the Political Department of the Government of Assam, and the on-ground work is carried out by the Assam Police, specifically the Special Branch. A State Nodal Officer is designated to handle inter-state logistics and to take charge of complicated cases, for example a death in a distant state, a death requiring a post-mortem, or a case where the family cannot travel.

The name Shraddhanjali is the Assamese and wider Indian word for a tribute paid to the departed, and the scheme is built around a single idea: that a family should not be forced to abandon a body in another state simply because they cannot afford to bring it home.

Why the scheme exists

Large numbers of people from Assam live outside the state, students in universities across India, and workers in construction, hospitality, security and domestic work in metropolitan cities. When one of them dies, the family in a village in Assam faces two problems at once: the death itself, and a repatriation bill that can run into tens of thousands of rupees, plus paperwork in a state whose language they do not speak. Shraddhanjali removes both obstacles by putting the state police machinery between the family and the process.

Who is eligible for the Shraddhanjali Scheme?

Your family can use Shraddhanjali if:

• The deceased was a bonafide resident of Assam with a home district in the state.
• The death occurred outside Assam, in another Indian state.
• The family is not in a position to arrange and pay for repatriation on its own. The scheme was framed with students studying elsewhere and workers in low-paying jobs explicitly in mind.

Your family cannot apply if:

• The family is financially secure and able to fund the repatriation independently. Shraddhanjali is a needs-based support, not a universal entitlement.
• The deceased had travelled outside Assam for medical treatment. These cases are excluded, on the reasoning that a family who arranged treatment in another state also arranged the travel.
• The deceased had a criminal background.
• The deceased was not a bonafide resident of Assam.
• The death occurred abroad. No overseas provision has been published; deaths of Indian nationals outside India are handled by the Ministry of External Affairs and the concerned Indian embassy or consulate.

Because eligibility turns on a judgement about the family's circumstances rather than a fixed income cut-off, the district police and the State Nodal Officer assess each case individually. There is no published income certificate requirement.

What information and documents does the family need?

Families should also keep ready, in plain words rather than on paper: when the death occurred, where it occurred (city, hospital or police station name), the deceased's home district in Assam, and the name of the person the police should call.

How to apply for help under the Shraddhanjali Scheme

Shraddhanjali has no online form to fill at the moment of need. Reporting is deliberately kept as simple as a phone call, because families are usually reporting in the first hours after a death.

1. Report the death immediately to the Assam Police. Call the 112 emergency number, which is operational across Assam, or walk into the nearest police station, or go to the district headquarters. Reported channels also include a dedicated Special Branch landline and a WhatsApp number.
2. Give the core facts in the first conversation: the date and place of death, the name and age of the deceased, their home village and district in Assam, the hospital or police station handling the body in the other state, and a family contact number.
3. Hand over the documents listed above to the police station or district office. The residence proof of the deceased, the death record from the other state, and your own identity proof. Scans or photographs sent on WhatsApp are accepted where the family cannot travel to the station.
4. Wait for the nodal officer to make contact. The State Nodal Officer takes over inter-state coordination; contacting the police and hospital in the other state, obtaining clearances, and arranging transport of the body.
5. Receive the body in the home district. The district police coordinate the final handover so the family can perform the last rites at home.

A Sewa Setu portal route was announced as a future addition. Until it is live, the phone and police-station route is the working channel.

How to check the status of a Shraddhanjali case

Shraddhanjali has no online status tracker. Families should follow up through the officer at the police station where the case was reported, and ask for the name and number of the officer coordinating the case. Where a case is stalled, the escalation point is the Superintendent of Police of the home district, and above that the State Nodal Officer in the Special Branch.

Keeping one family member as the single point of contact, with a phone that stays reachable, is the most practical thing a family can do. Most delays in inter-state repatriation come from paperwork in the state where the death occurred; post-mortem clearance, hospital release, and no-objection from local police: rather than from the Assam end.

Why a Shraddhanjali request can get delayed or refused

• The deceased's Assam residence cannot be established; no Aadhaar, voter ID or ration card linking them to a district in the state.
• A post-mortem or inquest is pending in the other state. The body cannot be released until the local police and hospital complete their formalities, whatever Assam arranges.
• The case falls in an excluded category, a death during medical treatment outside the state, or a deceased person with a criminal record.
• The family is assessed as financially able to repatriate independently.
• Incomplete contact information, so the district police cannot reach anyone to arrange handover.

Where a request is refused, ask for the reason in writing. A refusal based on a missing document can usually be reversed once the document is produced.

Key dates for the Shraddhanjali Scheme

• 22 June 2025 — Assam Cabinet approved the scheme.
• 6 October 2025, Shraddhanjali formally launched.
• Open all year; there is no application window. A death is reported when it happens.

Help and grievance redressal

• 112, the national emergency number, operational across Assam, is the fastest first contact.
• Any police station or district headquarters in Assam. The standard reporting route.
• Superintendent of Police, home district, the escalation point if a case is not moving.
• State Nodal Officer, Assam Police Special Branch: handles inter-state logistics and complex cases.

Shraddhanjali is free. No fee is payable to any officer, agent or middleman for arranging the return of a body, and any demand for money should be reported to the district Superintendent of Police immediately.

A note on sourcing. Detailed operational documentation for Shraddhanjali, including the dedicated Special Branch phone and WhatsApp numbers reported in the press, was not published on an Assam government domain at the time of this check. The scheme's existence, its repatriation purpose, its ownership by the Political Department and its execution by Assam Police are corroborated across multiple independent accounts. Confirm current contact numbers with your local police station before relying on them.