Grant in Case of Death Due to Disaster - Uttarakhand

What is the Grant in Case of Death Due to Disaster in Uttarakhand?

Grant in Case of Death Due to Disaster is a relief payment implemented by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) under the Department of Disaster Management, Government of Uttarakhand. The scheme gives immediate financial help to the family or dependents of a person who loses their life in a disaster.

According to the Department of Disaster Management's scheme material, the dependents of the deceased receive financial assistance of Rs 4,00,000 as an ex-gratia grant. Uttarakhand is among the most disaster-exposed states in the country; cloudbursts, flash floods, landslides, earthquakes, avalanches and forest fires all recur, and this grant is the standing relief norm applied when a disaster takes a life.

The important thing for a bereaved family to understand is that this is not an application-based scheme in the normal sense. Information about the disaster and the resulting damage reaches the administration from various sources, and the revenue machinery opens the case itself. The family's job is to make sure the death is reported and correctly recorded, not to chase a form.

Key features

• Rs 4,00,000 ex-gratia per death, paid to the dependents.
• Administered by USDMA through the district revenue administration.
• Case is opened on the Patwari's P-20 damage report, not on a citizen form.
• Approved by the District Magistrate and disbursed at tehsil level.
• Covers disaster-affected persons and also those engaged in relief or preparedness work.

Who is eligible for the disaster death grant in Uttarakhand?

You can receive the grant if:

• You are a resident of Uttarakhand.
• You are a disaster-affected person, or belong to a disaster-affected family, or the deceased was an individual involved in relief or pre-preparation related work.
• You are a dependent of the person who died in the disaster, established from the family register and identity documents.
• The death is verified by the Patwari in the P-20 form and confirmed up the chain by the Tehsildar and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.

You are not eligible if:

• You are not a resident of Uttarakhand.
• The deceased was not part of a disaster-affected family and was not engaged in relief or preparedness work.
• The death was not caused by the disaster. Where the Patwari, Tehsildar and SDM find that the cause of death was unrelated; illness, or an accident with no link to the disaster event. The case does not qualify, which is why the post-mortem or police report matters.
• You cannot establish dependency on the deceased. A distant relative who was not a dependent cannot claim in place of the immediate family.
• The death was never reported to the Patwari, the tehsil or the police, so no P-20 record exists.

What documents are needed?

The P-20 form is the one document the family does not prepare. It is the Patwari's own record of the damage, and everything downstream — the Tehsildar's check, the SDM's verification, the District Magistrate's approval, is built on it. A family that does nothing else should still make certain the Patwari has visited and recorded the death.

How to apply for the disaster death grant in Uttarakhand; there is no form to fill

1. Report the death immediately to the area Patwari, the tehsil office and the local police, and to the district Emergency Operation Centre control room. Early reporting is what puts the death into the disaster record.
2. Let the Patwari verify the damage. The concerned Patwari inspects the loss and records it in the P-20 form, including the death. Give the Patwari the deceased's identity details and the family register information on the spot.
3. Get the death registered with the local body and obtain the death certificate, and secure the post-mortem or police report.
4. Submit the family's documents at the tehsil; Aadhaar of the deceased and the claimant, family register extract or ration card, residence proof and the claimant's bank passbook.
5. Verification up the chain. The Patwari's report is verified by the Tehsildar and then by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
6. District Magistrate approval. Approval is obtained from the District Magistrate for the relief case.
7. Receive the money. Once the District Magistrate's approval is received, relief funds are disbursed to the concerned beneficiaries at the tehsil level, into the claimant's bank account.

How to follow up on a disaster relief case

1. Note the tehsil and the date on which the Patwari recorded the P-20 report; this is the reference the office works from.
2. Ask the Tehsildar whether the report has been verified and sent to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
3. Ask the Sub-Divisional Magistrate's office, and then the District Magistrate's disaster or relief section, whether approval has been given.
4. Use your district Emergency Operation Centre control room number for information during and after an event. USDMA publishes district control room numbers, for example Dehradun 0135-2726066 / 2626066, Haridwar 01334-223999 / 239423, Nainital 05942-231179 / 231178, Chamoli 01372-251437 / 251077, Uttarkashi 01374-222722 / 222126, Pithoragarh 05964-228050 / 226326 / 224224 and Rudraprayag 01364-233727.
5. Contact USDMA at 0135-2664317 where the district has not moved the case.

District Emergency Operation Centre control room numbers

USDMA publishes a control room number for every district's Emergency Operation Centre. These are the numbers to use during an event and in the days after it, both to report a death and to ask where the case has reached.

Each district Emergency Operation Centre is headed by a named officer, and USDMA updates the list on usdma.uk.gov.in. If a number does not connect during a major event, the tehsil office and the district control room of the neighbouring district are the practical fallbacks, and the state authority at 0135-2664317 remains reachable.

Why disaster relief cases stall

• The death was never recorded in the P-20 report, usually because the Patwari was not informed in time.
• Cause of death not linked to the disaster in the post-mortem or police record.
• Dependency not established, the family register does not show the claimant and the deceased in the same household.
• Bank account details wrong or inactive, so the tehsil-level disbursement fails after approval.
• Body not recovered, where the missing-person procedure has not been started with the police.
• Name mismatches across the death certificate, Aadhaar and family register.

Where to complain

• Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, USDMA, 36, IT Park, Dehradun, phone 0135-2664317, email usdma[dot]uttarakhand[at]gmail[dot]com.
• District Magistrate's relief section in your district, which is the approving authority for the grant.
• District Emergency Operation Centre control room for your district, listed on usdma.uk.gov.in.
• Chief Minister's helpline 1905 where the district administration does not resolve the case.

Grant in Case of Death Due to Disaster is paid free by the administration. No Patwari, tehsil official or middleman may charge anything to include a name in the relief list, and no official will ask a grieving family for a bank OTP.