National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) — Meghalaya

What is the National Family Benefit Scheme in Meghalaya?

The National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) is the death-of-breadwinner component of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), the centrally sponsored programme launched on 15 August 1995. In Meghalaya, NFBS is administered by the Community and Rural Development (C&RD) Department, the same department that runs the old-age, widow and disability pensions in the state.

NFBS pays a one-time assistance of Rs 20,000 to a below-poverty-line family when its primary breadwinner dies between the ages of 18 and 59 years. Both the Meghalaya government portal's NSAP page and the C&RD Department's own schemes page state the amount as Rs 20,000. Unlike the three NSAP pensions, NFBS is not a monthly payment. It is a single lump sum meant to help a poor household absorb the immediate shock of losing the person it lived on.

According to the C&RD Department, NSAP "aims to provide social security in case of old age, maternity, disability and death of a breadwinner". NFBS is the component that answers the last of those four situations.

Key features of NFBS in Meghalaya

• One-time payment of Rs 20,000, not a recurring pension.
• Applies where the primary breadwinner died aged 18 to 59 years.
• Meant for below-poverty-line households.
• Paid to the surviving head of the household, into that person's account.
• Claimed offline at the C&RD Block office or the Municipal Board office, free of charge.

Who is eligible for NFBS in Meghalaya?

Your family can claim if:

• The household has lost its primary breadwinner, the member whose earnings the family mainly depended on.
• The deceased was aged between 18 and 59 years at the time of death.
• The household is a below-poverty-line family. The C&RD Department records that poor and deserving people are also enrolled "even though their name does not figure out in the BPL List based on field verification", so a genuinely destitute household outside the list can still be considered.
• The family resides in the C&RD Block or Municipal Board area where the claim is filed.
• The claim is made by the surviving head of the household, who has a bank or post office account in their own name.

Your family cannot claim if:

• The deceased was under 18 or 60 years and above at the time of death. This age band is strict and is the most common ground on which NFBS claims fail.
• The deceased was not the primary breadwinner. The death of a dependent member, however painful, is not covered by NFBS.
• The household is clearly above the poverty line and does not survive field verification.
• NFBS has already been paid on the same death. The Rs 20,000 is payable once per bereaved family, not once per surviving member.
• There is no acceptable proof of death, or the age of the deceased cannot be established.

The breadwinner may be a man or a woman. A household that mainly lived on a woman's earnings can claim NFBS on her death within the same 18 to 59 age band.

What documents are required for an NFBS claim in Meghalaya?

How to apply for NFBS in Meghalaya

NFBS in Meghalaya is claimed offline. The C&RD Department states that the "application in prescribed form for benefits under NSAP can be submitted to the C&RD Block office/Municipal Board office."

1. Register the death and obtain the death certificate. This is the first step and the one that decides how quickly everything else moves. The certificate must show the date of death and support an age between 18 and 59.
2. Collect the prescribed NSAP application form free of cost from the C&RD Block office covering your village, or from the Municipal Board office if you live in an urban local body area such as Shillong, Tura or Jowai.
3. Fill in the form with the name and age of the deceased breadwinner, the date of death, the name of the surviving head of the household, the village or locality with Block or Ward, and the applicant's bank account number with IFSC code.
4. Attach the enclosures: death certificate, age proof of the deceased, BPL identification, proof of relationship, residence proof and a copy of the applicant's passbook.
5. Submit the claim at the same Block or Municipal Board office and ask for an acknowledgement or the entry number in the receipt register.
6. Cooperate with field verification. Block staff, usually with the village headman (Rangbah Shnong) or the local durbar, confirm that the deceased was the primary earner, that the household is poor, and that the applicant is the surviving head of the family.
7. Check the bank passbook after sanction. The Rs 20,000 is credited as a single payment once the claim is approved.

How do I check my Meghalaya NFBS claim status?

1. Ask at the C&RD Block office or Municipal Board office where the claim was filed — the register of NFBS cases is held there.
2. Quote the acknowledgement or register entry number taken at the time of submission, which is why it is worth insisting on one.
3. Update the bank or post office passbook and look for a single credit of Rs 20,000 rather than a monthly line.
4. Meet the Block Development Officer in writing if the claim has been pending for months without either payment or a communicated rejection.

Why do NFBS claims get rejected in Meghalaya?

• Age of the deceased outside 18 to 59 at the time of death.
• The deceased was not the primary earner, for example an elderly parent or a dependent family member.
• Death certificate missing or unregistered, so the date and fact of death cannot be established.
• Household found above the poverty line during field verification.
• A second claim on the same death by another surviving relative.
• Applicant not accepted as head of the household, usually where the relationship proof is weak or contested.
• Bank account defects, a dormant account or an incorrect IFSC code.

Two of these can be prevented entirely. Register the death promptly so a proper certificate exists, and settle within the family who will file as the surviving head before the form is submitted, because two competing claims on one death stall both.

What NFBS does not cover, and what to claim instead

NFBS is a one-time payment and does not continue in any form. A family that has lost its breadwinner may separately qualify under the other NSAP components run by the same C&RD Department: the widow pension (IGNWPS) for a widow aged 40 to 79, the old-age pension (IGNOAPS) for a surviving member aged 60 or above, and the disability pension (IGNDPS) for a member aged 18 to 79 with severe or multiple disability. These are separate applications on separate forms, filed at the same Block or Municipal Board office, and they are worth asking about in the same visit.

Where to complain about an NFBS claim in Meghalaya

• Block Development Officer (BDO) of your C&RD Block, the first authority for claim status, sanction and non-payment.
• Executive Officer, Municipal Board, for urban claimants.
• Deputy Commissioner's office in your district if the Block office does not act on a written complaint.
• Community and Rural Development Department, Government of Meghalaya, at megcnrd.gov.in. The department that administers NSAP in the state.

The claim is free at every stage. No agent, middleman or facilitator may charge a fee or take a share of the Rs 20,000, and any such demand should be reported to the BDO in writing.