Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme

What is the Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme?

Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme is a monthly cash assistance programme of the Social Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, run through the Directorate of Social Security. It is known in Hindi as the Bihar Shatabdi Kusht Kalyan Yojana, and the state introduced it in the financial year 2016-17.

The scheme addresses a specific and well-documented problem. Leprosy in India is curable and multi-drug therapy is free, but the deformities that the disease leaves behind are permanent. A person with clawed hands, an insensate foot or resorbed fingers cannot do manual labour, which is the main livelihood available in rural Bihar. Social stigma compounds the loss of earning capacity, and many affected people are pushed into begging. Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme responds by paying an unconditional monthly maintenance amount so that a deformity-affected person has a guaranteed floor of income.

According to the Social Welfare Department's own statement, the scheme provides economic assistance at the rate of Rs 1,500 per month per leprosy patient for food and related needs to patients with Visible Deformities Grade-II. Grade-II is the World Health Organization's classification for visible damage; loss of sensation with visible deformity of hands or feet, or visible eye damage. Grade-I disability, which means loss of sensation without visible deformity, is a lower grade and the scheme is framed around Grade-II.

Who is eligible for the Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a permanent resident of Bihar, evidenced by a voter card, residence certificate or ration card carrying a Bihar address.
• You are a leprosy-affected person, whether currently on treatment or already released from treatment. Being cured does not disqualify you, because the benefit is tied to residual deformity rather than to active infection.
• Your deformity is certified as Grade-II on a medical certificate issued by a government medical officer or the district leprosy officer.
• You hold a bank account in your own name that can be seeded with Aadhaar for Direct Benefit Transfer.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not a resident of Bihar. Each state runs its own leprosy welfare scheme, and residence cannot be split between states for this purpose.
• Your deformity is not certified at Grade-II. A leprosy diagnosis on its own, without visible deformity of the qualifying grade, does not establish the claim under this scheme.
• You have no medical certificate, or hold one from a private practitioner that the district leprosy officer has not endorsed.
• You cannot open or operate a bank account in your own name. A joint account is generally not accepted for DBT credit; where a beneficiary is unable to operate an account, the block office should be approached about a guardian-operated arrangement rather than an ordinary joint account.

Notably, the scheme carries no income ceiling and no age limit. That sets it apart from Bihar's old age and widow pensions, which do apply income and age tests. Nor does drawing this allowance automatically bar you from a disability pension, but you should confirm the position at your block office, since overlapping social security payments are checked against a single beneficiary database.

How much does the Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme pay?

The scheme pays Rs 1,500 every month, which is Rs 18,000 over a full year. The amount is fixed, is the same for every beneficiary regardless of income or family size, and is credited to the beneficiary's bank account by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Payment is made monthly in the normal course, though in practice Bihar's social security directorate sometimes releases two or three months together when sanction or fund-release cycles slip. A gap of one month is not by itself a sign that the claim has failed.

What documents are required for the Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme?

Some blocks also record a PAN card if the applicant holds one, but PAN is not a condition of eligibility and its absence is not a valid rejection ground.

The medical certificate is the document that decides the case. If you are already registered at a government leprosy clinic, ask that clinic to issue the certificate with the deformity grade written explicitly. A certificate that records "leprosy" but omits the grade will be sent back.

How to apply for the Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme

1. Collect the application form for Bihar Shatabdi Kusht Kalyan Yojana from your gram sabha, gram panchayat office or block office. In urban areas, ask at the municipal ward office.
2. Get a medical certificate from a government medical officer or the district leprosy officer stating that you have leprosy with Grade-II visible deformity. Do this before filling the form, because the certificate number goes onto the form.
3. Fill the form with your name, father's or husband's name, address, Aadhaar number and bank account details exactly as they appear on your passbook. Paste a recent passport-size photograph.
4. Attach self-attested photocopies of the medical certificate, Aadhaar, residence proof and the first page of the bank passbook.
5. Submit the complete set at the RTPS counter of your block office and collect the acknowledgement receipt with its receipt number. Do not leave without this receipt.
6. The application is verified by the block staff and sanctioned by the Block Development Officer, after which your name enters the payment list of the Directorate of Social Security.
7. Once sanctioned, Rs 1,500 per month is credited to your bank account by Direct Benefit Transfer.

How to check your Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme status

1. Take your RTPS acknowledgement receipt number to the block RTPS counter and ask for the current stage of the file. RTPS applications in Bihar are tracked by receipt number on serviceonline.bihar.gov.in, so the counter can look up the status on screen.
2. Ask the panchayat secretary or the block social security cell whether your name has been added to the monthly payment list.
3. Once payments start, check credits in your bank passbook or through an SMS alert on your registered mobile number.

Because the scheme has no dedicated public dashboard of its own, the block office remains the authoritative place to check a case. Keep the RTPS receipt safe — it is the only reference number the system gives you.

Why Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme claims get rejected or stall

• Deformity grade missing or below Grade-II on the medical certificate. Have the certificate re-issued with the grade stated in words.
• Certificate from a private doctor without endorsement from the district leprosy officer.
• Aadhaar not seeded to the bank account, so the DBT credit bounces back. Seeding is done at the bank branch, not at the block office.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the bank passbook and the application form. Correct Aadhaar first, then the bank record.
• Dormant bank account. An account with no transactions for a long period is frozen by the bank and DBT fails silently. Reactivate it at the branch.
• Application submitted without an RTPS receipt, which leaves you with no way to trace the file.

Where to get help and raise a grievance

• Block Development Officer of your block, the sanctioning authority and the first point of appeal.
• District Social Welfare Officer at the district collectorate, where a block-level refusal can be escalated.
• District Leprosy Officer for issues with the medical certificate or the grading of deformity.
• Bihar Social Welfare Department helpline: 1800-345-6262, which handles the department's social security schemes.
• RTPS status tracking: serviceonline.bihar.gov.in, using your acknowledgement receipt number.

No fee is charged at any stage of Bihar Shatabdi Leper Welfare Scheme. The application form is free, the RTPS counter charges nothing to receive it, and a government medical certificate for leprosy deformity is issued free at a government facility. Anyone demanding money to get the Rs 1,500 sanctioned should be reported to the Block Development Officer.