Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana (Jharkhand Widow Remarriage Incentive Scheme)

What is Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana?

Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana is a Jharkhand government scheme that pays a one-time incentive of Rs 2 lakh to a widow who remarries. The Department of Women, Child Development and Social Security runs the scheme through the same block and district social welfare offices that handle the state's pensions and marriage assistance.

Chief Minister Champai Soren launched the scheme on 6 March 2024 at Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium in Ranchi, where Rs 14 lakh was distributed among seven beneficiaries on the launch day. News coverage at the time described Jharkhand as the first state in India to offer a direct financial incentive for widow remarriage.

The purpose of Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana is stated in two parts. The financial part is straightforward, a widow starting a second household usually has no capital and often no independent income, and Rs 2 lakh gives that household a base. The social part is the reason the scheme exists at all: widow remarriage still carries stigma in parts of the state, and a public, cash-backed state endorsement is intended to change how families and communities treat the decision. The scheme is often written locally as Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojna or simply the widow remarriage scheme.

Who is eligible for the widow remarriage incentive?

You can claim if:

• You are a widow: your first husband has died and you hold his death certificate.
• You have remarried, and the remarriage is registered.
• You are a permanent resident of Jharkhand, evidenced by a residential certificate.
• You were of legal marriageable age at the time of the remarriage.
• You apply within one year of the date of remarriage.
• You hold a bank account in your own name to receive the transfer.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• You are a government employee.
• You draw a government pension.
• You are an income tax payer.
• You are not a permanent resident of Jharkhand.
• You are divorced rather than widowed. The scheme is written for widow remarriage, and the death certificate of the first husband is the document that establishes that status.
• The one-year window since the remarriage has passed. A late claim is time-barred regardless of merit.

The exclusions follow the same logic used across Jharkhand's social security schemes: the incentive is directed at women without a salaried, pensioned or taxable income of their own.

What documents are required?

Take originals plus a self-attested photocopy set. The block office verifies the originals and keeps the copies.

How to apply for Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana

1. Register the remarriage at the office of the Marriage Registrar as soon as possible after the wedding. Every later step depends on this certificate.
2. Collect the application form from the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) of your block or from the District Social Welfare Office. The scheme is administered offline, on paper.
3. Fill in your details; name, date of birth, address, late husband's name and date of death, new husband's name, date of remarriage and bank account details with the IFSC code.
4. Sign the declaration that you are not a government employee, not a pensioner and not an income tax payer.
5. Attach the death certificate, marriage registration certificate, Aadhaar, residential certificate, age proof and the bank passbook page.
6. Submit the file within one year of the date of remarriage to the CDPO or the District Social Welfare Officer, and take a dated acknowledgement with a file number.
7. Cooperate with field verification. The Anganwadi Sevika, Supervisor or block staff visits to confirm that the remarriage is genuine and that you live in the district.
8. On sanction, the Rs 2 lakh is credited to your bank account. Ask the office for the sanction number for your records.

How do I check the status of the claim?

1. Keep the acknowledgement slip and file number given at submission.
2. Ask the CDPO office where the file stands — received, verified, sent to the district, sanctioned or paid.
3. Ask the District Social Welfare Officer once the file has left the block, because the sanction and the payment order are issued at district level.
4. Watch your bank passbook or SMS alerts for the credit after sanction.

There is no online tracker for this scheme, so the acknowledgement slip is what makes follow-up possible. Do not hand over your only copy of any certificate.

How much is paid and when?

Vidhwa Punarvivah Protsahan Yojana pays Rs 2 lakh as a single payment, not in instalments, and it does not have to be repaid. Payment follows sanction, and sanction follows field verification and the district's fund release under the year's budget, so the interval between filing and credit varies by district.

The money is paid into the woman's own account. That design point matters: the incentive is meant to give her an independent asset in the new household, so a claim routed to a husband's or joint account is normally sent back for correction.

Why claims get rejected or delayed

• Filed after one year from the date of remarriage. The commonest fatal defect, and one no officer can waive.
• Remarriage not registered, so there is no acceptable proof of marriage.
• Death certificate missing or in a different spelling of the husband's name than the other documents.
• Applicant falls in an exclusion category, a government job, a pension or an income tax filing surfaces at verification.
• Bank account not in the applicant's own name, or not Aadhaar-seeded, so the transfer fails.
• Residential certificate expired or issued for a different district than the one where the claim is filed.

A rejected file can usually be corrected and resubmitted, provided the one-year window has not closed. Ask for the reason in writing at the CDPO office.

Where to complain if the incentive is not paid

• Block level: the Child Development Project Officer holding the file.
• District level: the District Social Welfare Officer, and the Deputy Commissioner where there is long delay.
• State level: the Department of Women, Child Development and Social Security, Project Building, Dhurwa, Ranchi 834004 to telephone 0651-2400757 or 0651-2223544.
• Women's helpline 181 and the district One Stop Centre if the applicant faces pressure, threats or harassment because of the remarriage. That is a protection issue, separate from the payment, and should not be left to the welfare file.

Applying is free at every stage. Nobody is authorised to take a share of the Rs 2 lakh to move the file, and such a demand should be reported to the Deputy Commissioner's office.