Palak Mata-Pita Yojana

What is Palak Mata-Pita Yojana?

Palak Mata-Pita Yojana is a child-welfare cash transfer run by the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat, through the Director of Social Defence. The scheme was introduced on 29 August 2009 with a single policy idea behind it: an orphaned child grows up better inside a family than inside an institution, so the state should pay the relative who takes the child in rather than move the child to a children's home.

The scheme's Gujarati name, પાલક માતા પિતા યોજના, translates literally as "foster mother-father scheme", and that is exactly who receives the money. A grandparent, uncle, aunt or cousin who is already raising an orphaned child becomes the palak mata-pita of record, and the state credits Rs 3,000 every month into a bank account held jointly by that foster parent and the child.

Key features

• Rs 3,000 per month, or Rs 36,000 a year, paid by Direct Benefit Transfer.
• Paid into a joint account of the foster parent and the child, not into the foster parent's personal account.
• Continues until the child turns 18.
• Conditional on the child remaining in school.
• Administered through the e-Samaj Kalyan portal and the district child protection machinery.

Who is eligible for Palak Mata-Pita Yojana?

A child qualifies if:

• The child is aged 0 to 18 years and is a resident of Gujarat.
• Both parents have died, or the father has died and the mother has remarried.
• The child is studying: school enrolment is a running condition, not just an entry condition.
• The child is being raised by a relative who agrees to act as foster parent.
• The foster parent's annual income does not exceed Rs 27,000 in rural areas or Rs 36,000 in urban areas.

A child cannot apply, or is not eligible, if:

• The father has died but the mother is alive and has not remarried. The assistance is expressly not payable in this situation.
• The mother has died and the father is alive. The same exclusion applies.
• The child has been adopted from an orphanage rather than being raised by relatives from within the family.
• The child is 18 years or older.
• The child has dropped out of school.
• The foster parent's income is above the Rs 27,000 rural or Rs 36,000 urban ceiling, as certified by the Taluka Development Officer or Mamlatdar.
• The family is not resident in Gujarat.

The two exclusions that surprise people most are the surviving-parent rules. The scheme's logic is that a living, unremarried parent is presumed to be the child's guardian, and a foster-parent grant is therefore not called for.

What documents are required for Palak Mata-Pita Yojana?

How to apply for Palak Mata-Pita Yojana online

1. Open the e-Samaj Kalyan portal at esamajkalyan.gujarat.gov.in, the single application window of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department.
2. Register as a citizen using the "New User? Please Register Here" option. Enter the applicant's name, district, mobile number and email, and set a password. An OTP confirms the mobile number.
3. Log in with the registered user ID and password, and select the scheme list of the Director, Social Defence.
4. Choose Palak Mata-Pita Yojana from the list of child-welfare schemes.
5. Fill the application form, the child's details, the parents' death details, the foster parent's relationship to the child, the income figures, the school currently attended, and the joint bank account number and IFSC.
6. Upload the scanned documents listed above. Keep each file within the size limit shown on the upload screen, and upload readable scans rather than photographs taken at an angle.
7. Submit the application and print or save the acknowledgement carrying the application number. That number is what you will use to check status later.
8. Attend verification when the District Child Protection Officer or District Social Defence Officer calls you, with the original documents in hand.

How to apply for Palak Mata-Pita Yojana offline

1. Download the application form free of cost from sje.gujarat.gov.in/dsd, or collect it from the nearest District Child Protection Officer, District Social Defence Officer or children's office.
2. Fill the form in full and attach self-attested copies of the death certificates, income certificate, school bonafide, joint account passbook and Aadhaar cards.
3. Submit the completed form at the office of the District Social Defence Officer or District Child Protection Officer of your district.
4. Collect a dated acknowledgement and keep it safe.

The form is issued free. No fee is charged at any stage of the application.

How much does Palak Mata-Pita Yojana pay, and when?

Palak Mata-Pita Yojana pays Rs 3,000 per month for the maintenance, nutrition and education of the child. The amount is credited by Direct Benefit Transfer to the joint account of the foster parent and the child, so the child's name is on the account through which their own maintenance money flows. Over a full year the transfer works out to Rs 36,000.

Payment continues until the child completes 18 years of age. It is not a one-time grant and it is not linked to school fees or to any particular expense — the money is intended for the child's upkeep in the broad sense.

What keeps the Palak Mata-Pita payment running?

The scheme carries an annual compliance step that families frequently miss. Every year the foster parent must submit:

• the child's school bonafide certificate for the current academic year, and
• the child's mark sheet for the previous year.

Failure to submit these results in assistance being suspended. If the child drops out of school before turning 18, assistance is discontinued altogether. Diarising the renewal at the start of each academic year is the simplest way to avoid a break in payment.

How to check a Palak Mata-Pita application status

1. Log in to esamajkalyan.gujarat.gov.in with your registered user ID.
2. Open "Your Application Status" from the citizen dashboard.
3. Enter the application number from your acknowledgement.
4. If the status stays at "pending with district office" for a long period, contact your District Social Defence Officer with the application number.

Payment status, once the application is approved, is visible in the joint bank account passbook. A missing credit is usually a bank-seeding problem rather than a scheme problem.

Why Palak Mata-Pita applications get rejected

• Surviving parent alive and not remarried, which places the child outside the eligibility rule.
• Income above the Rs 27,000 rural or Rs 36,000 urban limit in the income certificate.
• Income certificate issued by the wrong authority. A rural applicant must use the Taluka Development Officer, an urban applicant the Mamlatdar.
• Bank account not held jointly by the foster parent and the child. A single-name account is a standard reason for return.
• School bonafide missing or the child no longer enrolled.
• Age above 18 at the time of application.
• Child adopted from an orphanage rather than being raised by relatives.
• Unreadable uploads, which the district office returns for resubmission.

A returned application can be corrected and resubmitted. Fixing the joint bank account and getting a fresh income certificate from the correct authority resolves the majority of returns.

Where to get help with Palak Mata-Pita Yojana

• Director, Social Defence, Gujarat: Block 16, Ground Floor, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector 10, Gandhinagar 382010. Phone 079-23256309.
• District Social Defence Officer or District Child Protection Officer of your district, for application and verification issues.
• e-Samaj Kalyan portal, esamajkalyan.gujarat.gov.in, which carries a technical support link for login and upload problems.

Registration and the application form are free. No agent has any role in getting a Palak Mata-Pita application approved, and nobody should be paid to "arrange" the monthly transfer.