Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana (National Family Benefit Scheme)

What is Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana?

Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana is the Indian name used for the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS), a social-assistance benefit that gives a bereaved Below Poverty Line family a one-time lump sum when its primary breadwinner dies. The scheme is one of the components of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), and it is delivered on the ground by state governments through their social welfare, revenue or social justice departments.

According to NSAP, in the event of the death of the bread-winner in a household, the bereaved family receives lump-sum assistance of Rs 20,000. The idea is to give a poor family immediate cash support at the moment it loses the member whose earnings held it together, for funeral costs, debts and the first weeks without an income.

Nature of the benefit

• A one-time grant, not a recurring pension.
• A fixed amount of Rs 20,000 per eligible death.
• Paid to the surviving head of the household.

Who is eligible for the National Family Benefit Scheme?

A family can claim if:

• The household is on the Below Poverty Line list.
• The deceased was the primary breadwinner, the member whose income mainly supported the family.
• The breadwinner was aged between 18 and 64 years at the time of death (natural or accidental).
• The claimant is the surviving next of kin / head of the household.

A family cannot apply if:

• The household is not on the BPL list, the benefit is targeted at families below the poverty line, so above-poverty-line households are not eligible.
• The person who died was not the primary breadwinner but a dependent who did not substantially support the family.
• The deceased breadwinner was outside the 18-to-64 age band as applied under NSAP norms.

Because delivery is by the states, some states apply the scheme under their own names and may vary the exact age band or documentation, so confirm the local rules with your social welfare office.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana

1. Obtain the death certificate of the deceased breadwinner from the local municipal or panchayat authority.
2. Visit the designated office, the tehsil/revenue office, block office or social welfare office notified for NFBS/NSAP claims in your state.
3. Fill in the National Family Benefit Scheme application form and attach the death certificate, BPL proof, and your identity and bank details.
4. Submit the claim to the local authority, which verifies the BPL status, the breadwinner status and the age of the deceased.
5. Receive the Rs 20,000 grant, normally by Direct Benefit Transfer into the surviving head of household's bank account after verification.

Some states now accept these applications online through their own e-district or social welfare portals; check your state's portal, but the offline route through the local office remains the standard channel.

Many states also set a time limit within which the claim must be made after the death — often within a fixed number of months or up to a year, so apply promptly and do not wait. If the family's BPL status is disputed or the breadwinner's main-earner status is questioned, the local verifying officer decides on the record before the grant is released.

How Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana fits within NSAP

Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana / the National Family Benefit Scheme is one of five components of the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The other four are recurring monthly pensions: the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme for the elderly, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, and the Annapurna Scheme, which provides subsidised foodgrain to uncovered senior citizens.

Within this set, the National Family Benefit Scheme is distinctive because it is the only one-time lump sum. The others pay a fixed amount every month. It is triggered by a single event, the death of the primary breadwinner, rather than by a continuing condition such as old age, widowhood or disability. A family that qualifies for this grant may separately qualify for one of the NSAP pensions, for example a widow pension for the surviving spouse, and these are assessed independently, so receiving the Rs 20,000 does not by itself bar a family from a pension for which it is otherwise eligible.

Because NSAP is a centrally sponsored programme delivered by states, the money and the guidelines flow from the centre while identification, verification and payment are handled at the state and district level. This is why the same benefit appears under different local names and why the exact form, office and timelines differ across states.

Help and where to go

• Administered by: state social welfare / revenue departments under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).
• Portal: nsap.nic.in for the national framework; your state social welfare department's portal for the local application.
• Local contact: the tehsil, block or district social welfare office handling NSAP benefits.

There is no fee to claim Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana, and the Rs 20,000 is paid directly to the bereaved family after verification. Because the scheme is run by states under different local names, always confirm the exact procedure and office with your district social welfare office.

How to check your application status

Because the claim is filed offline at a tehsil, block or social welfare office rather than through a single national tracking portal, status checking for Rashtriya Parivar Sahayata Yojana works differently from most online DBT schemes.

1. Ask for an acknowledgment at submission. When you hand in the application, insist on a receipt, a diary number or an acknowledgment slip from the office clerk. This number is what you will quote for every follow-up, so do not leave the office without it.
2. Check with the same office you filed at. The tehsil, block development office or district social welfare office that accepted the claim is the only authority that can tell you where the file stands, whether it is with the verifying officer, awaiting the BPL/age confirmation, or cleared for payment.
3. Look for a state NSAP or e-district portal login. A number of states have digitised parts of their NSAP workflow and let an applicant log in with the acknowledgment number or the applicant's registered mobile number to see the claim stage online. Where such a portal exists it is run by the state, not by the central nsap.nic.in site, so search for your own state's social welfare or e-district portal rather than expecting a single national tracker.
4. Watch your bank account for the DBT credit. Since the Rs 20,000 is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer, a credit of that exact amount from the social welfare department is usually the first confirmation that the claim was approved; some states also send an SMS to the registered mobile number when the payment is processed.
5. Follow up in person if there is no update after a few weeks. Because verification of BPL status and breadwinner status is done locally and can take time, a visit to the office with your acknowledgment slip is often more effective than a phone call, especially in districts without a digital tracker.
6. Escalate to the district social welfare officer if the local office gives no clear answer or the file appears stalled well beyond the state's usual processing time; NSAP claims that are neither rejected nor paid after a long delay can be raised at the district level for a status review.

Common reasons for rejection

• The household is not on the Below Poverty Line list. This is the single most common reason for refusal. The scheme is restricted to BPL families, and if the applicant's household is not on the state's current BPL list, or the list used by the verifying office is outdated, the claim is turned down. The fix is to first confirm the household's BPL status and, if it is missing or outdated, get it corrected or added through the local revenue or rural development office before or alongside the claim.
• The deceased was not the primary breadwinner. If the person who died was a dependent, a minor, or a family member whose income did not substantially support the household, the claim fails this core test. Applicants sometimes assume any adult death in a BPL family qualifies; it does not. Where the deceased genuinely was the main earner, gathering supporting proof, such as employment records, wage slips, or a local certificate confirming their earning role, strengthens the case before submission.
• The breadwinner's age falls outside the 18-to-64 band. A death below 18 or above 64 does not meet the age condition applied under NSAP norms, so the claim is rejected on eligibility grounds regardless of BPL status. There is no workaround here beyond checking the deceased's age against official records before filing, since a family whose breadwinner died just outside this window should instead look at other applicable schemes, such as an old-age or widow pension.
• Missing or mismatched death certificate details. A death certificate that lists a different name, date or age than the other documents submitted (ration card, Aadhaar) causes the file to be sent back for correction rather than approved. Getting the death certificate corrected by the issuing municipal or panchayat authority before resubmission avoids a repeat rejection.
• The claim was filed after the state's time limit. Several states enforce a deadline, often a matter of months from the date of death, within which the family must apply. A claim filed well past this window can be rejected purely on delay, even if every other condition is met. Where a genuine delay was unavoidable, raising the matter with the district social welfare officer and asking whether a condonation or exception applies is the only route forward.
• Bank account or Aadhaar details do not match the claimant. Since the Rs 20,000 is paid by Direct Benefit Transfer to the surviving head of household, an account that is not in that person's name, is inactive, or has an Aadhaar mismatch will hold up or reverse the payment even after the claim is otherwise approved. Confirming the bank account is active, in the claimant's own name, and correctly seeded with Aadhaar before filing prevents this last-mile failure.