Monetary Relief to the Victims of Atrocities (50:50)

What is the Monetary Relief to the Victims of Atrocities scheme?

Monetary Relief to the Victims of Atrocities is a compensation scheme run in Haryana by the Directorate of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, which now sits inside the SEWA Department (Social Justice, Empowerment, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes and Antyodaya). The scheme is funded on a 50:50 sharing basis between the Government of India and the Government of Haryana, which is why the department lists it with "(50:50)" in its title.

The scheme is not a discretionary grant. It is the statutory relief that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Rules made under it require a state to pay a victim. According to the SEWA Department, financial assistance ranging from Rs 85,000 to Rs 8,25,000 is provided to members of Scheduled Castes who become victims of atrocity at the hands of non-Scheduled Caste persons.

The covered incidents include damage and loss of property, grievous hurt, temporary or permanent incapacitation, murder or death, rape and gang rape, kidnapping, and outrage of modesty. In every case an FIR must have been registered under the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, that FIR is the document on which the entire relief file is built.

Relief is paid directly into the bank account of the victim, or of the family or dependants of the victim where the atrocity caused death. In Haryana the Deputy Commissioner of the district is the sanctioning authority and the District Welfare Officer is the Drawing and Disbursing Officer who actually releases the money.

Who is eligible for atrocity relief in Haryana?

You can claim relief if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste notified for Haryana and hold a caste certificate issued by the Tehsildar or an equivalent revenue authority.
• You have suffered an offence listed in the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, committed by a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
• An FIR has been registered at a police station in Haryana citing sections of that Act.
• You are the victim, or, where the victim died, the spouse, child, parent or legally recognised dependant of the victim.

You are not eligible, or your claim cannot proceed, if:

• No FIR has been registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. A complaint under general criminal law alone does not qualify.
• The accused is also a member of a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. The Act applies to offences committed by persons outside those categories.
• You cannot produce a valid Scheduled Caste certificate for the victim.
• The incident took place outside Haryana. In that case the relief is payable by the state where the FIR was registered, not by Haryana.
• The police investigation concludes that the complaint is false or that the offence was not committed on the ground of caste, and the file is cancelled.

There is no income ceiling and no age limit in this scheme. A victim's family income, landholding or employment status is irrelevant, because the payment is statutory relief for a criminal wrong rather than a welfare benefit targeted at poverty. That is the single most misunderstood point about the scheme.

How much money is paid, and when?

Relief follows the scale in Annexure-I of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, which the Government of India revised upward by roughly 10% in the 2016 amendment, the old band of Rs 75,000 to Rs 7,50,000 became Rs 85,000 to Rs 8,25,000.

Lower-severity offences; insult in public view, outraging modesty, temporary incapacitation, wrongful occupation of land — start at the Rs 85,000 floor. The exact figure for each of the offences listed in the Act is set out in Annexure-I, and the District Welfare Officer applies that table rather than exercising discretion.

Two features of the payment schedule matter to claimants. First, relief is staged against the progress of the criminal case, so the file stays open for years and the last instalment depends on a conviction in the Special Court. Second, the Rules require immediate relief within seven days of the incident; including food, water, clothing, shelter, medical aid and transport; quite apart from the cash instalments. Ask the District Welfare Officer for this immediate relief at the very start; it is a right, not a favour.

In cases of murder or death, the family is also entitled under the Rules to supporting relief such as a monthly pension for the widow or dependants, maintenance of children, and provision of employment to one dependant. These are sanctioned through the same district file.

What documents are required?

How to apply for atrocity relief in Haryana

1. Get the FIR registered at the police station with jurisdiction, and insist that the relevant sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 are added. Collect a free copy of the FIR, it is the base document for every later step.
2. Obtain the supporting medical papers. In cases of hurt, rape or death, ensure the medical examination or post-mortem is completed and collect the report, because the first instalment in those categories is released against it.
3. Open the application. Go to saralharyana.gov.in, register with a mobile number and email to create a Saral account, sign in, search the service list for the atrocity relief service of the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department, and open the form. If you prefer offline, walk into any Antyodaya Saral Kendra or the District Welfare Office and have the operator file it for you at no charge.
4. Fill the form and upload documents, FIR copy, caste certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook, and the medical, death or damage papers that apply to your case.
5. Submit and save the Saral reference ID. The acknowledgement carries a tracking number; keep the printout or SMS.
6. Verification is then done by the District Welfare Officer, who checks the FIR against police records and puts up the file to the Deputy Commissioner.
7. Sanction and payment. The Deputy Commissioner sanctions the amount and the District Welfare Officer releases it to the bank account by Direct Benefit Transfer, in the stage prescribed for that offence.

How do I check the status of my claim?

• Sign in to saralharyana.gov.in and use the Track Application Status option with your Saral reference ID.
• Send an SMS-based track request as prompted on the Saral portal, or call the Saral helpline listed there.
• For anything the portal does not explain, contact the District Welfare Officer of your district. The relief file physically sits in that office until the Deputy Commissioner signs it.
• Check your bank passbook or statement. Because payment is by DBT, the credit appears without any separate intimation.

Why claims get delayed or rejected

• The FIR does not cite the SC/ST Act. This is the commonest single problem. The fix is a supplementary report or a request to the Superintendent of Police to add the sections; approach the Special Public Prosecutor if the police refuse.
• Caste certificate missing or in a different name spelling. Get the Tehsildar to issue or correct the certificate before filing.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails and bounces back.
• Claim filed by a relative without heirship proof in a death case.
• Police cancellation report filed as untraced or false. Relief stops until the court decides on the cancellation report.
• Case pending at the charge sheet or trial stage, so only the earlier instalments have been released. This is not a rejection; the balance follows the case.

The Tribune has reported that relief was pending in 1,327 atrocity cases in Haryana for FIRs registered between 14 April 2016 and 31 August 2021, which is a useful reminder to keep following the file rather than assume it will move on its own.

Where do I complain if the relief is not paid?

• 24-hour atrocity helpline: 0172-2561250, run by the Directorate of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes.
• Directorate office: Bays No. 53-54, Kalyan Bhawan, Sector 2, Panchkula-134109, telephone 0172-2564006 and 0172-2567009.
• Haryana Scheduled Castes Commission, Bays No. 49-52, Sector 2, Panchkula, telephone 0172-2993612, for complaints about inaction by district officials.
• District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, which is required under the Rules to review pending atrocity cases and relief payments in the district.
• CM Window, Haryana's central grievance platform, for escalation when the district level does not respond.

Filing an atrocity relief claim is free at every stage. No police officer, welfare official or agent may demand money to register the FIR, forward the file or release the sanctioned amount.