Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana (Funeral Assistance Scheme), Madhya Pradesh

What is Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana?

Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana, listed in English as the Funeral Assistance Scheme, is a small but important scheme of the Social Justice and Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh. According to the state entitlement record published on the Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline scheme portal, the scheme has been in operation since 13 August 2013.

The scheme exists to answer one specific problem. When an extremely poor or destitute person dies, or when an unidentified body is found with nobody willing to claim it, the cost of a dignified cremation or burial still has to be met by someone. Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana provides Rs 3,000 so that the last rites are performed properly and the cost does not fall on whoever happens to step forward.

The entitlement record describes the covered cases plainly as extremely poor and destitute persons and unclaimed bodies with no identification, where no one is prepared to perform the last rites. That framing is what distinguishes this scheme from a family bereavement benefit, the money follows the funeral, not the family.

Key features

• One-time assistance of Rs 3,000 per case.
• Available across all categories: General, OBC, SC and ST, with no age restriction.
• Runs in both urban and rural Madhya Pradesh.
• Paid to the person who performs the last rites.
• Released on written or verbal information of the death, so that the funeral is not delayed by paperwork.
• Published service timeline of 15 working days.

Who is eligible for Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana?

The assistance can be claimed where:

• The deceased was an extremely poor or destitute person whose family cannot bear the cost of the last rites.
• The body is unclaimed and unidentified, and no one has come forward to perform the funeral.
• The death occurred within Madhya Pradesh, in either a rural or urban area.
• Someone — a relative, a neighbour, a social worker or a local body employee: actually performs the cremation or burial, and this can be evidenced by a cremation panchnama.

There is no caste restriction, no age restriction and no separate income certificate procedure described in the entitlement record; the sarpanch or zonal officer certifies the destitution locally.

The assistance is not available where:

• The family has the means to bear the funeral cost. The scheme is written for destitute and unclaimed cases, not as a universal death benefit.
• The claim is for a registered construction worker. Those families are covered by the Madhya Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board's own funeral assistance of Rs 6,000, filed with the Labour Department.
• The death took place outside Madhya Pradesh.
• The last rites were not actually performed by the person claiming the amount, since the payment is expressly made to whoever conducts the funeral.
• The same death has already been claimed once. The assistance is a single payment per case and duplicate claims are not eligible.

What documents are required?

The state entitlement record names the death certificate, the cremation panchnama, the FIR where applicable, and the hospital medical certificate as the document set. Because the scheme is designed to work at the moment of death, the sarpanch or zonal officer can start the process on verbal information and complete the paperwork afterwards.

How to apply for funeral assistance in Madhya Pradesh

1. Inform the sarpanch immediately if the death has occurred in a village, or the zonal officer of the municipal corporation if it has occurred in a town or city. The entitlement record allows this information to be given either in writing or verbally, so the funeral is not held up.
2. Ask the panchayat or ward office to record the case as an Antyeshti Sahayata case and note who will perform the last rites.
3. Perform the cremation or burial and have a cremation panchnama prepared and witnessed at the site. This is the document that later proves the rites were carried out.
4. Obtain the death certificate from the gram panchayat, nagar palika or municipal corporation, and an FIR copy or hospital medical certificate if the case requires one.
5. Submit the application with these documents to the gram panchayat, janpad panchayat or the urban local body, addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of the Janpad Panchayat in rural areas or the Municipal Commissioner in urban areas.
6. Collect the acknowledgement and expect the assistance within the published 15 working days timeline. The Rs 3,000 is paid to the person who performed the rites.

Who sanctions the Rs 3,000?

Madhya Pradesh keeps the sanction close to the ground so the money can move fast:

• In rural areas, the sarpanch initiates the assistance and the Chief Executive Officer of the Janpad Panchayat is the officer to whom the application is addressed.
• In urban areas, the zonal officer of the municipal corporation approves the assistance and the Municipal Commissioner is the application authority.

There is no state-level or district-level approval step in between, which is why the timeline is 15 working days rather than the 30 working days that applies to the department's Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana.

How do I check whether the assistance has been sanctioned?

Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana has no dedicated online status page. Track it locally:

1. Ask the gram panchayat secretary or the ward office where the case file has reached.
2. Follow up with the Janpad Panchayat CEO office (rural) or the Municipal Commissioner's office (urban), which sanction the payment.
3. Check the bank account of the person who performed the last rites, since the Rs 3,000 is credited there.
4. If nothing has moved after 15 working days, register a complaint on the CM Helpline 181 quoting the date of death and the panchayat or ward.

Why do funeral assistance cases stall?

• No cremation panchnama. This is the most common gap. Without a witnessed record of the funeral, the office cannot certify that the rites were performed.
• No death certificate, particularly for unidentified bodies where the death was never registered. The police record and FIR then become essential.
• Unclear who performed the rites, so the office does not know whose account to credit.
• The family is not accepted as destitute. The scheme is limited to extremely poor, destitute and unclaimed cases, and a household with visible means will not qualify.
• Duplicate claim where the deceased was a registered construction worker and the family has already drawn the Rs 6,000 funeral assistance from the Labour Department.

Where do I complain?

• Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline: 181. The state grievance line, which tracks complaints to the concerned local body.
• Directorate of Social Justice and Disabled Welfare, Bhopal: 0755-2556916, email dir.socialjustice@mp.gov.in.
• District Social Justice Officer at the collectorate.
• Chief Executive Officer, Janpad Panchayat or the Municipal Commissioner, who hold the sanction power.

Antyeshti Sahayata Yojana is a small scheme by rupee value, but it is one of the few state benefits designed to reach people who have no family, no papers and no one to speak for them. Anyone who arranges the funeral of a destitute or unclaimed person in Madhya Pradesh should tell the sarpanch or zonal officer the same day, because the process is meant to begin before the paperwork does.