Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana (Madhya Pradesh Unorganised Workers)

What is Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana in Madhya Pradesh?

Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana is the funeral assistance benefit run by the Labour Department of Madhya Pradesh through the Madhya Pradesh Unorganised Urban and Rural Workers Welfare Board, the body better known by its scheme brand names Naya Savera and Sambal. The scheme pays Rs 5,000 to the family of a registered unorganised worker who dies, so that the last rites can be performed without borrowing money at short notice.

The scheme sits inside the larger Mukhyamantri Jan Kalyan (Sambal) Yojana, which Madhya Pradesh launched in 2018 to give social security to unorganised workers, daily wage labourers, hawkers, domestic workers, rickshaw pullers, loaders, small farmers working as labour, and similar occupations. Funeral assistance is the fastest-paying benefit in that package because the family needs cash within a day or two, not within a month.

In Hindi the scheme is written as अंत्येष्टि सहायता योजना or अंतिम संस्कार सहायता योजना, and both names lead to the same Rs 5,000 benefit.

How much does Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana pay?

The Rs 5,000 funeral assistance is paid in addition to the death assistance, not instead of it. The two claims are separate: funeral assistance is sanctioned quickly at the block or urban body level, while the Rs 2,00,000 or Rs 4,00,000 death assistance goes through a longer verification of the cause of death.

Families frequently make the mistake of filing only one of the two claims. Filing the funeral assistance claim does not automatically start the death assistance claim, and the reverse is also true.

Who is eligible for funeral assistance in Madhya Pradesh?

The family can claim if:

• The deceased was a registered unorganised worker of Madhya Pradesh, with a live Sambal or Naya Savera registration on the date of death.
• The worker was a resident of Madhya Pradesh.
• The worker was aged 18 to 60 years at the time of registration.
• The claimant is a family member or dependant whose name appears in the deceased worker's Samagra family ID.
• The claim is filed in the prescribed form, normally within 7 days of the death.

Who cannot apply or is not eligible:

• Families of workers who were never registered cannot apply under this scheme. Registration on the Sambal portal has to have happened while the worker was alive; it cannot be done after death to create a claim.
• Income tax payers and their families are not eligible, because Sambal registration itself excludes income tax paying households.
• Government employees and their families are not eligible, as Sambal is meant for unorganised sector workers.
• Families that own more than the prescribed limit of agricultural land are not eligible, since Sambal registration is restricted to households below the land ceiling set for the scheme.
• A second claimant for the same death is not eligible. Only one payment of Rs 5,000 is made per deceased worker, however many dependants there are.
• Registered construction workers are covered by a separate scheme. A worker registered with the Madhya Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board claims funeral assistance under that board's own scheme rather than under the unorganised workers board.

What documents are required?

Keep two photocopies of everything. The panchayat or ward office retains one set and forwards the other with the claim.

How to apply for Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana

1. Collect the death certificate first. In a village, the gram panchayat registers the death; in a town, the nagar palika or nagar nigam does. A hospital death certificate can be used while the civil registration certificate is being prepared, but the civil certificate is what the file finally needs.
2. Go to the gram panchayat secretary (rural) or the ward office (urban) and ask for the prescribed funeral assistance claim form of the Madhya Pradesh Unorganised Urban and Rural Workers Welfare Board. The form is free.
3. Fill the form with the deceased worker's registration number, Samagra ID and Aadhaar number, and your own name, relationship, Aadhaar number and bank account details with IFSC code.
4. Attach the documents listed above and submit the form within 7 days of the death. Insist on a dated receipt or an acknowledgement in the office inward register; this is your only proof that the claim was filed in time.
5. The claim is forwarded for sanction: to the Chief Executive Officer, District Panchayat in rural areas, and to the Commissioner or Chief Municipal Officer of the urban body in urban areas.
6. Receive the Rs 5,000 by bank transfer into the claimant's account once the sanction is issued. There is no cash payment and no cheque handed over at the office.

How to check the status of a funeral assistance claim

1. Return to the gram panchayat secretary or ward office with the acknowledgement receipt and ask for the file's dispatch number.
2. With the dispatch number, follow up at the Janpad Panchayat or the municipal body office, where the sanction is processed.
3. Check the deceased worker's record on the Sambal portal at sambal.mp.gov.in using the Sambal registration number or Samagra ID — the portal shows benefits sanctioned against a registered worker.
4. If nothing moves for more than three weeks, file a complaint on the CM Helpline, 181, or online at cmhelpline.mp.gov.in, quoting the dispatch number. Complaints on this helpline are tracked against the officer responsible and are the most effective escalation available to a family.

Why funeral assistance claims get rejected

• The worker's registration had lapsed or was never completed, so the system finds no live Sambal record against the Samagra ID.
• Name mismatch between the death certificate, the Aadhaar card and the Sambal registration. Even a spelling difference in a father's name stops the file.
• The claimant is not listed in the deceased worker's Samagra family ID, so the relationship cannot be verified.
• Bank account details are wrong, most often a wrong IFSC or an account that has become dormant, and the transfer fails.
• The claim was filed very late without any explanation for the delay.
• A duplicate claim already sanctioned to another family member for the same death.

Most of these are fixable. A name mismatch is corrected by updating the Samagra record at the panchayat or the local Lok Seva Kendra; a failed transfer is re-issued once corrected bank details are submitted to the sanctioning office.

Key facts to remember

• Antim Sanskar Sahayata Yojana pays Rs 5,000, no more and no less.
• The claim window is 7 days from the death.
• The route is entirely offline, gram panchayat secretary or ward office.
• The sanctioning authority is the CEO, District Panchayat in rural areas and the Municipal Commissioner or Chief Municipal Officer in urban areas.
• The benefit is free. No fee, no commission, no agent.
• The separate Sambal death assistance of Rs 2,00,000 (ordinary death) or Rs 4,00,000 (accidental death) must be claimed by its own application.

Help and grievance redressal

• Shramik Seva helpline: 18002338888, run by the Madhya Pradesh Labour Department for worker welfare queries.
• CM Helpline: 181, or cmhelpline.mp.gov.in, for a tracked written complaint against a panchayat, urban body or district office.
• Sambal portal: sambal.mp.gov.in, to verify a worker's registration status and the benefits recorded against it.
• District Labour Officer of your district, for disputes about whether a worker was correctly registered as an unorganised worker.