Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana

What is Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana?

Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana is a scheme of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Rajasthan, that gives a widow a cash gift from the state government when she remarries. Readers who know the scheme by its Hindi name will find it listed as Vidhwa Vivah Uphar Yojana, and in the department's e-booklet as Vidhwa Punarvivah Uphar Yojana.

The scheme runs under the Vidhwa Vivah Uphar Yojana Rules 2007, circulated by departmental order number F.15(90)M.K./Sa.Nya.evam.A.Vi/07/22805 dated 26 April 2007 with the concurrence of the Finance Department's inter-departmental note number 133 dated 24 April 2007. The rules took effect across Rajasthan from 1 April 2007, and widows becoming eligible on or after that date can claim the gift.

The purpose is plainly stated in the rules themselves: where a widow who is entitled to a pension under the existing pension rules marries, the state government gives her a sum by way of a gift on the occasion of her marriage. The scheme is an incentive against the social stigma attached to widow remarriage, not a poverty payment.

Who is eligible for Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana?

Rule 3 of the 2007 rules sets five conditions. You can claim the gift if:

• You are a widow, that is, a woman whose husband died after her marriage, who has been living a widowed life and who has not remarried.
• You had not remarried before these rules came into force.
• Your age is not less than 18 years and not more than 50 years.
• You are a native of Rajasthan, or you have been living in Rajasthan for at least three years counted from the date of remarriage.
• You qualify for a widow pension under the widow pension rules. The rules note that this test itself brings in two further conditions, that no member of your family is aged 20 years or above, and that you satisfy the income conditions attached to pension eligibility.

You are not eligible if:

• You remarried before the 2007 rules took effect on 1 April 2007.
• You are under 18 or over 50 years of age.
• You do not qualify for the state widow pension, for example because a family member is 20 years or older, or because your income exceeds the pension limit.
• You are neither a native of Rajasthan nor a three-year resident of the state.
• You never lived as a widow, the rules require that the applicant has been living a widowed life.

How much does Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana pay?

The gift amount today is Rs 51,000, paid once. The figure has been revised twice since the scheme began:

Both revisions state expressly that the remaining conditions of the application and sanction process stay unchanged. The Rs 51,000 order was issued with the concurrence of the Finance (Expenditure-2) Department's ID number 161900687 dated 19 July 2019 and took immediate effect.

The sanctioned amount is drawn by the district officer and given to the applicant by cheque or bank draft, routed through the treasury officer and charged to budget head 2235-60-102(01)-[05]. The district officer sends the Directorate a monthly statement of gift amounts sanctioned, and the Directorate allots the district officer the budget needed.

What documents are required for Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana?

The rules take a practical approach, they list several alternative proofs rather than insisting on one document.

For age and identity, any of these is accepted: a school certificate; the birth registration register maintained by the municipality, nagar parishad or gram panchayat; the latest assembly voter list carrying the applicant's name; an age and income certificate issued by the sub-divisional officer or tehsildar; or an age certificate issued by the medical jurist of a government hospital.

For widowhood and remarriage, the husband's death certificate and the registration certificate of the remarriage.

For family and income, the ration card showing detailed particulars of family members, plus income from all sources and means of livelihood.

There is an important shortcut. For a woman already drawing a widow pension, the rules say a certified copy of the PPO together with a certified copy of the remarriage registration certificate is sufficient. In such a case only two things are checked, the pension received up to the date of application, and the marriage itself. The full documentary verification of age, income and family particulars is expressly not required.

How to apply for Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana

1. Obtain the prescribed form "Uphar-Ka" free of cost from the district office of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department. The rules also allow the application to be made on plain paper, so a missing form is no obstacle.
2. Fill in your details — name, age, husband's name and date of death, date of remarriage, residence, income from all sources and family members.
3. Attach the supporting papers: the husband's death certificate, the remarriage registration certificate, age proof, income certificate and ration card. If you are drawing a widow pension, attach certified copies of the PPO and the remarriage registration certificate instead.
4. Submit the application to the district Social Justice and Empowerment officer; in practice the Deputy Director, Assistant Director or District Probation and Social Welfare Officer; within one month of the marriage.
5. The district officer enters your application in the office register and orders an inquiry. The inquiry is carried out by the hostel superintendent and must be completed within one week.
6. On a favourable inquiry report, the district officer sanctions Rs 51,000 and arranges payment by cheque or bank draft through the treasury officer within 15 days.

How is the application verified?

The inquiry officer checks five things: the applicant's age; the husband's death certificate; the place of residence; the income from all sources and means of livelihood; and the detailed particulars of family members from the ration card and similar records. This last check matters, because the underlying pension eligibility requires that no family member is 20 years or above.

Applications found ineligible or not sanctioned are recorded in the register together with the reason for rejection, so an applicant can ask the district office to see why a claim failed.

Why Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana claims get rejected

• Late application; filed more than one month after the wedding.
• Age outside 18 to 50 years on the date of the remarriage.
• Not eligible for widow pension, most often because a family member is 20 years or older.
• Residence not established, neither native of Rajasthan nor three years' residence from the date of remarriage.
• Remarriage not registered, so the key document cannot be produced.
• Income above the pension threshold, established during the inquiry.

Timelines and grievance route

The department's citizen charter names the Joint Director, Deputy Director or Assistant Director of the district as the nodal officer for this scheme, with a 15-day disposal period. If the file is not settled in that time, the controlling authority is the Commissioner or Director, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Jaipur.

No relaxation or amendment of these rules is permitted without the state government's approval, and the interpretation given by the Director or Commissioner of the department is final in any dispute.

Help and contacts

• Departmental helpdesk: 0141-2226638, weekdays 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
• Email: support.sje@rajasthan.gov.in
• District office: Deputy Director or Assistant Director, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, in your district headquarters
• Head office: Ambedkar Bhawan, G-3/1, Rajmahal Residency Area, Jaipur

The form is free and the application costs nothing. Nobody in the department may charge a fee for accepting or sanctioning a Widow Marriage and Uphar Yojana claim.