Ex-Gratia Payment for Loss of Hands, Legs, Eyes, or Vision, Uttarakhand

What is the ex-gratia payment for loss of hands, legs, eyes or vision?

Ex-Gratia Payment for Loss of Hands, Legs, Eyes or Vision is a standing relief item paid from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) by the Department of Disaster Management and Rehabilitation, Government of Uttarakhand, through the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) and the district administration.

The relief recognises a specific and permanent kind of harm. A person who survives a cloudburst, landslide or building collapse but loses a hand, a leg or their eyesight does not simply need hospital treatment; they lose the ability to earn in the way they used to. This item pays a fixed ex-gratia sum for that permanent loss, separate from the smaller relief paid for hospitalisation alone.

Uttarakhand is among India's most disaster-prone states, hit repeatedly by cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides and avalanches across its 13 districts. The SDRF, constituted under Section 48(1)(a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary fund for immediate relief. For special-category states including Uttarakhand, the central government contributes 90% of the SDRF allocation.

How much is paid, and how is the slab decided?

The SDRF norms fix this relief in two slabs based on the certified disability percentage:

• Disability of 40% to 60%, the lower slab.
• Disability of 60% and above. The higher slab.

The certified percentage is therefore the single most important number in the whole claim. It is not the injury description that decides the money; it is the percentage a government doctor or government hospital records on the disability certificate.

The rupee figures attached to these two slabs are set by the Ministry of Home Affairs' items and norms of assistance for the SDRF and NDRF, which are revised periodically for each award period. Because this page could not verify the current figures on a readable official source, the exact amounts are not stated here: ask the District Disaster Management Authority or the Tehsildar for the rate in force before you file, and get it in writing on the acknowledgement.

For context, other standing SDRF items that Uttarakhand follows include Rs 4 lakh to the family of a person who dies in a notified disaster, and ex-gratia of Rs 16,000 where a grievous disaster injury needs hospitalisation for more than a week, or Rs 5,400 for a stay of up to a week. Those are separate items; a person who was hospitalised and then permanently disabled should ask the Tehsil to record each applicable item, because each is claimed and paid separately.

Who is eligible for this ex-gratia payment?

You can claim if:

• You permanently lost a hand, a leg, an eye or your vision as a result of a notified natural disaster in Uttarakhand, flood, cloudburst, landslide, avalanche, earthquake, hailstorm, cyclone, fire, frost or cold wave.
• A government doctor or government hospital has certified the disability, and the certificate states a percentage of 40% or more.
• The injury is linked to the disaster event by revenue, police or district administration records.
• You have an Aadhaar-seeded bank account in your own name for the transfer.

You cannot claim / are not eligible if:

• The disability arose from an ordinary accident not connected to a notified disaster. A road accident, a workplace injury or an assault. Those are handled under other compensation rules, not the SDRF.
• The certified disability is below 40%, which falls outside the two slabs this item recognises.
• You have no government disability certificate. A private hospital note or a description of the injury without a percentage is not enough, because the percentage fixes the slab.
• The event was never notified as a disaster by the state or district administration. The SDRF is rule-bound, so injuries during weather that was not declared a disaster do not qualify under this item.
• You cannot produce any evidence connecting the injury to the disaster, such as a Tehsil or police record of the event and of your presence in it.

What documents are required?

• Disability certificate from a government doctor or hospital, stating the disability percentage. This is the document the entire claim turns on.
• Medical records of the injury and treatment — admission notes, operation records where a limb was amputated, and the discharge summary.
• Certification linking the injury to the notified disaster, from the revenue department, police or the district administration.
• Aadhaar card, for identity and bank seeding.
• Bank passbook of the disabled person's own account, because the relief is credited directly to them.
• Uttarakhand residence proof such as a domicile certificate or ration card, though the operative fact is usually that the injury occurred in the notified disaster.

How to apply for the ex-gratia payment

1. Report the injury to the Tehsil office or the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in the district where the disaster occurred, as soon after the event as the family is able. Early reporting is what creates the official record connecting the injury to the disaster.
2. Get the disability certified by a government doctor or government hospital. Insist that the certificate states the disability percentage, not only the nature of the injury, because the percentage decides whether the 40-60% slab or the 60%-and-above slab applies.
3. File the claim with the complete file. The disability certificate, the medical records, the disaster-linkage certification, Aadhaar and the bank passbook. Submit them together rather than in instalments; split submissions are the commonest cause of delay.
4. Cooperate with the district verification. Revenue and disaster-management staff verify the injury, the disaster link and the disability percentage, and place the case in the correct slab.
5. Receive the relief in your bank account once the District Magistrate, who chairs the DDMA, sanctions the payment from the SDRF.

There is no fee at any stage, and no official or agent may charge to file or expedite an SDRF claim. Where the disabled person cannot travel, a family member may file on their behalf, carrying the medical papers and the injured person's Aadhaar and bank details, since the money is credited to the disabled person's own account.

How do I check the status of the claim?

There is no dedicated public online tracker for this SDRF item, because it is processed manually through the revenue and disaster-management chain. The reliable route is to follow up at the Tehsil or the DDMA where the claim was filed, quoting the disaster event, the date of filing and the injured person's name. After a major disaster the district administration usually publishes lists of sanctioned relief, so ask whether the name appears on the approved list for that event. Keeping a photocopy of the submitted claim, the disability certificate and the acknowledgement makes every follow-up faster.

Why do these claims get delayed or rejected?

• No disability percentage on the certificate. A certificate that describes the amputation but omits the percentage cannot be placed in a slab.
• Certificate from a private hospital only. The norms rest on government medical certification.
• Disability certified below 40%, which falls outside this item.
• No official link between the injury and the disaster. Where the family never reported the injury at the time, establishing the link months later is difficult.
• The event was not notified as a disaster, which puts the case outside the SDRF entirely.
• Incomplete Aadhaar or bank details, which stops the direct transfer even after sanction.
• Claim filed very late, after the district has closed the relief window for that disaster.

The fix for most of these is the same: go back to the government hospital for a proper percentage-bearing disability certificate, and ask the Tehsildar to issue written certification of the disaster linkage.

Help and where to raise a problem

• State Emergency Operations Centre; disaster helpline 1070 at state level and 1077 at district level, the fastest line during and immediately after a disaster.
• Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA): usdma.uk.gov.in, reachable at 0135-2664317.
• Tehsil / revenue office, the first point to report the injury and file the claim.
• District Disaster Management Authority / District Magistrate office, the authority that verifies and sanctions SDRF relief.

If a genuine claim is delayed or refused without a clear reason, escalate in order: the Tehsildar, then the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, then the District Magistrate, who chairs the DDMA and holds final authority over SDRF disbursement in the district.

Note on figures: the two-slab structure for disability of 40-60% and 60% and above is the standing SDRF design that Uttarakhand follows, but the rupee amounts are revised by the Ministry of Home Affairs from award period to award period and could not be confirmed here on a readable official source. Confirm the current rate with the DDMA before filing, and treat any figure quoted by an agent as unverified.