National Family Assistance Scheme - Chhattisgarh

What is the National Family Assistance Scheme in Chhattisgarh?

National Family Assistance Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented in Chhattisgarh by the Social Welfare Department, Government of Chhattisgarh. The scheme pays a one-time lump sum of Rs 20,000 to a household living Below the Poverty Line when the family's primary breadwinner dies. It is the state's implementation of the National Family Benefit Scheme component of the National Social Assistance Programme, and in Hindi-speaking parts of Chhattisgarh it is commonly known as Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana.

According to the Chhattisgarh Social Welfare Department, the purpose is narrow and practical. When the person whose earnings kept a poor household running dies suddenly, the family faces funeral costs, lost income and often debt within the same week. National Family Assistance Scheme puts a single, unconditional Rs 20,000 into the family's hands to absorb that first shock. The money carries no repayment obligation and no condition on how it is spent.

Key features

• One-time payment of Rs 20,000, not an instalment or a recurring pension.
• Covers natural, unnatural and accidental death of the primary breadwinner.
• Restricted to families on the Below Poverty Line list of Chhattisgarh.
• The deceased must have been aged 18 to 59 years at the time of death.
• The application form is free, in both rural and urban areas.
• Sanction is by the District Panchayat in rural areas and by the urban local body in towns and cities.

Who is eligible for the National Family Assistance Scheme?

A family can claim if all of the following are true:

• The family is a native of Chhattisgarh.
• The applicant is a member of the deceased person's family; husband or wife, a minor child, an unmarried daughter, or a dependent parent.
• The deceased was the primary breadwinner, that is the member on whose income the family principally depended.
• The death was natural, unnatural or accidental. All three are covered.
• The deceased was between 18 and 59 years old on the date of death.
• The household is on the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list.

A family cannot apply, or will be found not eligible, in these situations:

• The household is not recorded as BPL. This is the most common ground for rejection, and no amount of documentation about hardship substitutes for the BPL record.
• The deceased was 60 years or older, or under 18, at the time of death. Households that lose an elderly member are expected to be served by old-age pension schemes instead.
• The deceased was not the primary earning member. Where a family had two or more earners, the Social Welfare Department pays only on the death of the one whose income contributed most to the family. The death of a secondary earner does not qualify.
• The family is not a native of Chhattisgarh.
• A claim has already been sanctioned for the same death. National Family Assistance Scheme is one payment per bereavement, not one per surviving relative.

How to apply for the National Family Assistance Scheme in Chhattisgarh

National Family Assistance Scheme is applied for offline, through the local body that serves your area. The route differs between village and town.

In rural areas:

1. Visit the office of your Gram Panchayat and collect the application form. The form is supplied free of cost. If no printed form is in stock, you are permitted to write the application on plain paper.
2. Fill the form with the deceased person's name, date of death, age at death and your relationship to them, and attach the death certificate, BPL card, age proof, domicile certificate, Aadhaar, income certificate and bank passbook.
3. Submit the completed form to the Gram Panchayat and collect the acknowledgement receipt. Do not leave without it. It is your only proof of the filing date.
4. The Gram Panchayat reviews the application, records its recommendation and forwards it to the District Panchayat within seven days.
5. The District Panchayat takes the decision to approve or reject, and on approval the Rs 20,000 is released to the bank or post office account named in the form.

In urban areas:

1. Visit the office of your Municipal Corporation, Municipality, Nagar Panchayat or the concerned Panchayat Raj institution and collect the free application form.
2. Fill it in and attach the same set of documents, then submit it at that office and take the acknowledgement receipt.
3. The concerned urban body itself has the authority to approve or reject the application, so follow-up stays with that office rather than moving to the district level.

What documents are required?

Age proof is more flexible than families expect. The Social Welfare Department accepts a doctor's certificate, a birth certificate, a school certificate, or a certificate issued by an Administrator, Sarpanch or Mayor. A family that has no birth record for the deceased should ask the Sarpanch rather than abandon the claim.

How much is paid and when?

National Family Assistance Scheme pays Rs 20,000 as a single lump sum. There is no monthly component and no second instalment. The payment is made into the bank account or post office account entered on the application form, which is why that account should be open, active and in the applicant's own name before the form is filed.

The scheme is centrally sponsored, so the funding flows from the Government of India through the state, but the sanction, verification and disbursal are all done at state and district level in Chhattisgarh.

How do I check the status of my application?

Status tracking under this scheme is local rather than online, because the application itself is filed on paper.

1. Keep the acknowledgement receipt issued at submission. It carries the date the application entered the system.
2. In rural areas, ask the Gram Panchayat secretary whether the file has been forwarded to the District Panchayat. This should have happened within seven days.
3. Once forwarded, follow up with the District Panchayat office, which holds the sanction decision.
4. In urban areas, follow up directly with the Municipal Corporation, Municipality or Nagar Panchayat where you filed, since that body decides the case itself.
5. After sanction, check your bank or post office passbook for the credit.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix it

• The family is not on the BPL list. Nothing else in the file can rescue this. If you believe the household should be BPL and is missing from the list, that correction has to be pursued separately with the Gram Panchayat or urban body before the claim can succeed.
• Age of the deceased falls outside 18 to 59. Where the recorded age is wrong and the true age was within the band, submit a stronger age proof. A school certificate or a certificate from the Sarpanch or Mayor.
• The deceased was not the main earner. Strengthen the income certificate so it shows clearly that the deceased contributed the largest share of household income.
• Death certificate missing or names do not match. A mismatch between the spelling on the death certificate, the BPL card and the Aadhaar card stalls files routinely. Get the spellings aligned before filing.
• Bank account details wrong or the account is dormant. The sanction can be approved and the money still fail to land. Confirm the account number and IFSC on the form against the passbook.

Key dates and timelines to remember

• File as soon as the death certificate is issued. The scheme has no published annual last date, but delay makes verification harder and can push the claim into a later sanction cycle.
• The Gram Panchayat must forward a rural application to the District Panchayat within seven days.
• The age band of 18 to 59 years is measured on the date of death, not on the date of application.

Grievance redressal and help

Grievances under National Family Assistance Scheme are handled through the same chain that sanctions the claim.

• First step — the Gram Panchayat secretary in rural areas, or the ward office of the Municipal Corporation, Municipality or Nagar Panchayat in urban areas.
• Second step. The District Panchayat or the District Social Welfare Officer, who supervises Social Welfare Department schemes in the district.
• Department level, the Social Welfare Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, at sw.cg.gov.in, which publishes the social security pension and assistance guidelines used by district offices.

The application form is free and no fee is payable at any stage. No official or agent is entitled to charge for filling, forwarding or sanctioning a National Family Assistance Scheme claim, and any such demand should be reported to the District Social Welfare Officer.