Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana

What is the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana?

Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana is a Maharashtra state scheme that pays a one-time grant to a farmer who is permanently disabled in an accident, or to the legal heirs of a farmer who dies in one. The scheme is run by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, and is commonly written in Marathi as Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana.

Farming is physically dangerous work. A farmer who falls into a well, is bitten by a snake in a standing crop, is electrocuted by an irrigation pump, or is killed when a tractor overturns leaves a household with no earner and no savings. Maharashtra has recognised this since 2005-06 through a farmer accident cover, which ran for years as an insurance policy named the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Vima Yojana.

That insurance model was scrapped. From 19 April 2023 the state replaced it with the present sanugrah anudan. A direct ex-gratia grant paid by the Agriculture Department itself rather than by an insurance company. The change removed the insurer as a middleman, ended disputes over policy periods and premium remittance, and made the district-level administration answerable for settling claims. The state has since reported disbursing tens of crores of rupees to accident-affected farmers and their heirs under the grant.

The second big change is procedural. The claim process has been moved onto the Aaple Sarkar DBT / MahaDBT farmer portal, so a family can file and track a claim online instead of carrying a paper file between offices, and the money is credited by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Who is eligible for the Gopinath Munde farmer accident grant?

You are covered if:

• You are a registered farmer in Maharashtra whose name appears in the 7/12 land extract, or you are the one covered family member of such a farmer.
• Your age at the time of the accident was between 10 and 75 years.
• The death or the permanent disability was caused by an accident, evidenced by an FIR, a spot panchnama or a police patil certificate.

Who can claim on a death: the legal heirs recognised by the scheme, in the order recorded in Village Form No. 6-C. The recognised heirs include the spouse, unmarried daughters, the mother, sons, daughters-in-law and married daughters.

You are not eligible if:

• The land is not recorded in your name and you are not the covered family member of a 7/12 holder: landless labourers with no such link fall outside the definition, though the state has been widening the scheme's reach to farm workers.
• The person was below 10 or above 75 on the date of the accident.
• The death was from natural causes, illness or old age, or the injury was not accidental.
• The claim is for an injury that heals, the disability benefit is only for permanent loss of a limb or an eye, certified by a civil surgeon.
• More than one member of the same household has already been covered. The scheme covers the farmer plus one family member, not the whole family.

How much does the scheme pay?

The grant is a one-time payment, not a pension, and it is paid straight into the claimant's bank account through DBT. Because it is an ex-gratia grant and not insurance, no premium is deducted and no proportionate settlement applies. The sanctioned figure is paid in full.

What kinds of accidents are covered?

The scheme is written around the accidents that actually kill and maim farmers in rural Maharashtra. The published scope includes road and vehicle accidents, drowning, falling into a well, electrocution, lightning strike, snakebite and scorpion sting, poisoning including pesticide poisoning, falls from height such as from a tree, animal attack, fire and burns, and death by murder. Accidents involving a tractor or other farm machinery are covered on the same terms.

Not covered: natural death, death from disease, suicide or intentional self-injury, death while committing a crime, and injury that does not result in permanent loss of a limb or an eye.

How to apply for the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana

1. Collect the evidence first. Before touching the portal, obtain the FIR or spot panchnama, the death certificate if it is a death claim, the disability certificate from the civil surgeon if it is a disability claim, the 7/12 extract and the Village Form No. 6-C heirship entry.
2. Register on the Aaple Sarkar DBT farmer portal at mahadbt.maharashtra.gov.in. Choose Aadhaar-based authentication if the claimant's Aadhaar is linked to a mobile number; otherwise use the non-Aadhaar registration route.
3. Complete the applicant profile, personal details, address, bank account and the land details as they appear in the 7/12 record. An incomplete profile is the commonest reason a claim never reaches the taluka office.
4. Open the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Suraksha Sanugrah Anudan Yojana from the scheme list, fill in the accident details — date, place and nature of the accident, and state whether the claim is for death or disability.
5. Upload every document as a clear scan or photograph, then submit. Save the application number that appears on the acknowledgement screen.
6. Follow up at the taluka agriculture office. The taluka-level scrutiny committee verifies the papers and forwards the case for sanction at the district level. Carry the physical documents when the office asks to see the originals.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the taluka agriculture officer's office (Tahsil Krishi Adhikari) in your taluka with the full document set.
2. Ask the Krishi Sahayak or Krishi Sevak for your village to help fill and upload the application, field staff are the designated help point for families who cannot use the portal.
3. Obtain a written acknowledgement with the application number, and keep a photocopy of everything you hand over.

Common Service Centres and Aaple Sarkar Seva Kendras also assist with the online filing for a small notified fee.

How to check your claim status

Log in to the Aaple Sarkar DBT portal with the same credentials and open My Applied Schemes or the application status page. The status moves through submission, taluka-level verification, district-level sanction and payment. If the status has not changed for several weeks, call 022-61316429 between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm on a working day with your application number, or ask the taluka agriculture officer where the file is pending.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• The deceased's name is not in the 7/12 extract and no link is established to the 7/12 holder. Fix: complete the mutation (pherfar) entry at the talathi's office and re-file.
• No FIR or panchnama, so the accidental nature of the death is unestablished. Fix: obtain the police patil certificate for the village, which the scheme accepts in place of an FIR.
• Age outside 10 to 75 as per the age proof submitted. Nothing can be done where the age is genuinely outside the band; where the age proof itself is wrong, correct the record first.
• Heirship not settled: several claimants for the same accident. Fix: get the Village Form No. 6-C entry completed so the order of heirs is on record.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails even after sanction. Fix: seed the account at your bank branch and inform the taluka office.
• Duplicate claim where another family member has already been paid for the same household.

Grievance and contact

• Aaple Sarkar DBT farmer helpline: 022-61316429, 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
• Taluka agriculture officer, first point of escalation for a stuck file.
• District Superintending Agriculture Officer, second point of escalation.
• Aaple Sarkar grievance portal, grievances.maharashtra.gov.in, for a written complaint that carries a tracking number.

No fee is payable to anyone for filing this claim. Agents who offer to "get the grant sanctioned" for a commission have no role in the process, and the taluka agriculture office is obliged to accept and forward a properly documented claim.