Snehasparsham

What is the Snehasparsham scheme?

Snehasparsham is a scheme of the Kerala Social Security Mission (KSSM), a charitable society sponsored by the Social Justice Department, Government of Kerala, based at Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram. Snehasparsham grants monthly financial assistance to exploited women who became mothers while unmarried.

According to the Kerala Social Security Mission's own scheme page, exploited women who become mothers in unmarried status are granted financial assistance up to the age of 60, at a monthly rate of Rs 2,000. KSSM records 1,622 beneficiaries under the scheme.

The transliterated Malayalam name Snehasparsham, meaning "touch of love", is the name used in KSSM orders and in local offices, and readers will find the scheme listed under that name on the Mission's schemes index alongside Snehapoorvam, Samaswasam, Snehasanthwanam, Vayomithram, Karunya Deposit and the Mittayi Project.

Why Kerala runs a separate scheme for this group. An unmarried mother in Kerala frequently faces a compounding of disadvantages: she is often a victim of exploitation rather than a party to a relationship of equals, she is commonly cut off from family support, and she carries the full cost of raising a child on a single and usually informal income. Unwed mothers have a particular need for education, employment and health care, especially reproductive and child health, and are often pushed out of the mainstream of social life. Snehasparsham addresses the financial part of that problem with a predictable monthly transfer that does not depend on the mother's employment status.

Who is eligible for Snehasparsham?

The Kerala Social Security Mission states two criteria for submission of an application:

A woman can receive Snehasparsham if:

• She is an exploited and unmarried woman who is a mother.
• She is a BPL ration card holder.
• She is below the age of 60, since the assistance is granted up to that age.
• She is a resident of Kerala and can be verified locally by the Child Development Project Officer.

A woman is not eligible if:

• She is married, or was married at the time of the child's birth. The scheme is confined to mothers in unmarried status.
• She holds an APL ration card. BPL status is an express condition, so an applicant above the poverty line cannot apply under Snehasparsham.
• She has crossed the age of 60, at which point the assistance under this scheme ends.
• She cannot produce a bank account in her own name, since the assistance is credited directly to the beneficiary's account.

One further condition appears in widely circulated descriptions of the scheme, that the beneficiary should not be a recipient of another government pension scheme. That condition is not stated on the current KSSM scheme page, so it is flagged here rather than asserted. An applicant who already draws a social security pension should put the question to the Child Development Project Officer before filing, because an unresolved overlap is a common reason for a case to be held up at the investigation stage.

What documents are required for Snehasparsham?

The Kerala Social Security Mission lists exactly four documents to be submitted along with the application:

Because the document list is short, the quality of each document matters more than usual. The name on the ration card, the bank passbook and the Aadhaar card should read identically; a mismatch between the three is the single most common reason a well-founded case stalls in verification.

How to apply for Snehasparsham

1. Obtain the Snehasparsham application form in the prescribed format. Forms are available from the Child Development Project Officer's office and through the Application Forms section of the Kerala Social Security Mission website.
2. Fill in the form and attach the four required documents. The BPL ration card copy, an age proof document, a copy of the bank pass book and a copy of the Aadhaar card.
3. Submit the completed application with the related documents to the Child Development Project Officer.
4. The officer investigates the case locally and sends it to the Kerala Social Security Mission with a recommendation.
5. The Kerala Social Security Mission sanctions funding to those found eligible, and the monthly assistance is credited to the bank account given in the application.

There is no online self-application route for Snehasparsham and no fee. The investigation step by the Child Development Project Officer is the substantive part of the process, it is where the applicant's circumstances are verified, so an applicant is better served by meeting that officer in person than by posting the form.

How do you follow up on a Snehasparsham application?

Snehasparsham does not publish an online status tracker. The practical follow-up route is:

• First, the Child Development Project Officer who received the application, to confirm the case has been investigated and forwarded with a recommendation.
• Then the Kerala Social Security Mission on 0471-2341200 or at socialsecuritymission@gmail.com, quoting the date of submission and the office through which the application was routed.
• Then the bank, if a sanction has been communicated but no credit has appeared — a dormant or KYC-incomplete account will block the transfer even after sanction.

How much is Snehasparsham worth over a year?

At the published rate of Rs 2,000 a month, Snehasparsham is worth Rs 24,000 over a full year. Because the assistance runs up to the age of 60, a woman sanctioned in her thirties can, in principle, draw the benefit for two decades or more, which makes Snehasparsham one of the longer-running individual entitlements the Kerala Social Security Mission administers, despite its small beneficiary count of 1,622.

Two points about the rate are worth stating carefully. First, the Rs 2,000 figure is what KSSM currently publishes; a number of widely circulated descriptions of Snehasparsham still quote Rs 1,000 a month, which appears to reflect an earlier rate. An applicant should work from the Rs 2,000 figure but should not be surprised if an older printed form or leaflet says otherwise. Second, the benefit is a monthly bank credit to the mother's own account, not a reimbursement and not a one-time grant, which is why the bank passbook copy is one of only four mandatory attachments.

Why do Snehasparsham applications get rejected?

• APL ration card rather than a BPL card, which fails the express eligibility condition.
• Applicant aged 60 or above, putting her outside the age ceiling for this scheme.
• Age proof missing or inconsistent with the ration card entry.
• Bank account not in the applicant's own name, or dormant.
• Name mismatch across ration card, Aadhaar and bank passbook.
• Case not verifiable locally at the investigation stage by the Child Development Project Officer.

Where do you get help with Snehasparsham?

• Kerala Social Security Mission, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695012
• Phone: 0471-2341200 (fax 0471-2346016)
• Email: socialsecuritymission@gmail.com
• Website: socialsecuritymission.gov.in, which carries Application Forms, GO's and Orders, RTI and Contact sections
• Local first stop: the Child Development Project Officer for the block or municipality where the applicant lives

Applicants should also know that the Social Justice Department and the Kerala Social Security Mission run several parallel programmes, including Snehasanthwanam and Samaswasam for medical hardship, and Snehapoorvam for children who have lost a parent, and a household may qualify under more than one of them on different grounds. The Child Development Project Officer is the right person to ask which combination applies to a particular family.