Shramashree Scheme, 2025

What is the Shramashree Scheme?

Shramashree (শ্রমশ্রী) is a scheme of the Labour Department, Government of West Bengal for migrant workers of the state who decide to come back home. The Labour Department notified Shramashree under No. Labr-69/2025/(LC-LW/MW) dated 19 August 2025, with effect from 21 August 2025.

Shramashree was announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the backdrop of complaints that Bengali-speaking workers were facing harassment and linguistic discrimination in some other states. The scheme's stated purpose is to make returning home financially survivable: to cover the cost of the journey, carry the family through the gap between jobs, and then plug the worker into training, employment and self-employment routes inside West Bengal.

Key objectives

• Pay for the return journey so that cost is not the reason a worker stays in an unsafe situation outside the state.
• Provide a predictable monthly income for up to a year while the worker looks for work in West Bengal.
• Move the returning worker into skilling and employment rather than leaving the household on a cash allowance indefinitely.
• Keep the children of returning workers in school, by arranging admission in West Bengal schools mid-year.

Main features

• Rs 5,000 one-time travel assistance for the return journey.
• Rs 5,000 a month rehabilitation allowance for up to 12 months, or until the worker is employed in West Bengal.
• Delivery through the migrant workers' welfare Board, on claims filed at karmasathips.wblabour.gov.in.
• Built on top of the West Bengal Migrant Workers' Welfare Scheme, 2023 registration database rather than a fresh, separate list.

Who is eligible for Shramashree, and who is not eligible?

You can claim Shramashree if:

• You are registered as a migrant worker under the West Bengal Migrant Worker Welfare Scheme, 2023.
• You were working outside West Bengal, in another Indian state or abroad, and you wish to return to West Bengal.
• You hold an Aadhaar or EPIC issued in West Bengal, or your parents hold such documents, establishing that you belong to the state.
• You have a bank account in your own name that can receive a direct transfer.

You are not eligible if:

• You have never worked outside West Bengal. Shramashree is specifically a return-migration scheme, not a general unemployment allowance for residents.
• You cannot establish West Bengal domicile through your own or your parents' Aadhaar or EPIC.
• You are not registered, and do not register, under the West Bengal Migrant Worker Welfare Scheme, 2023. Registration is the gateway; without it there is no record against which a claim can be verified.
• You have already secured employment in West Bengal: in that case the travel grant may still apply, but the monthly rehabilitation allowance does not continue.

The Labour Department has not published an income ceiling, a caste condition or a land-holding condition for Shramashree. The tests are migrant status, West Bengal domicile and registration.

What documents are required for Shramashree?

How to apply for Shramashree

1. Register as a migrant worker first. If you are not already on the West Bengal Migrant Worker Welfare Scheme, 2023 database, complete that registration. Everything under Shramashree is verified against this record.
2. Open karmasathips.wblabour.gov.in. The Labour Department's Karmasathi migrant worker portal, and sign in with your registered mobile number.
3. Select the Shramashree claim and fill in your personal details, the state or country you were working in, the date of your return and your bank account details.
4. Upload the supporting documents: Aadhaar or EPIC, bank passbook, your photograph, and travel proof if you are claiming the Rs 5,000 journey grant.
5. Submit the claim and note the acknowledgement number shown on screen. Keep it — every later status query needs it.
6. Verification by the Registering Authority. The claim is examined at the district or block level, where your migrant status and domicile are checked.
7. Sanction by the Claim Sanctioning Authority, after which payment is released to your bank account through the Board.

How to apply for Shramashree offline

1. Attend a Duare Sarkar camp in your gram panchayat or ward when the round is announced, and ask for the Shramashree counter.
2. Alternatively, visit the district or sub-divisional Labour office, or the local Assistant Labour Commissioner's office, which acts as the Registering Authority.
3. Carry your Aadhaar or EPIC, migrant worker registration details, bank passbook and photograph.
4. The officer files the claim on the portal for you and hands over an acknowledgement with the claim number.

How much benefit does Shramashree provide?

Shramashree has two cash components:

• Travel assistance: a one-time grant of Rs 5,000 towards the cost of returning to West Bengal.
• Rehabilitation allowance: Rs 5,000 per month, payable for a maximum of 12 months or until the worker takes up employment in West Bengal.

A worker who returns and stays without work for a full year therefore receives up to Rs 65,000. The allowance is a bridge, not a pension: it ends the moment employment is secured.

Alongside cash, the notification links Shramashree beneficiaries to:

• Skill training under Utkarsh Bangla, the state's free short-term skilling scheme run by PBSSD.
• Employment under Karmashree, the state's rural work programme.
• Self-employment assistance of up to Rs 50,000, carrying a 25 per cent subsidy capped at Rs 12,500.
• Soft loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for workers from minority communities.
• School admission support for the children of returning workers.
• Access to the state's health and social security schemes, including Swasthya Sathi.

According to the state government's own announcement, roughly 22.4 lakh migrant workers from West Bengal fall within the potential reach of the scheme.

How to check your Shramashree application status

1. Log in to karmasathips.wblabour.gov.in with the mobile number used at registration.
2. Open the claim tracking section and enter your Shramashree acknowledgement number.
3. The screen shows the stage: pending with the Registering Authority, verified and forwarded, sanctioned, or paid.
4. If the status has not moved for several weeks, visit the district Labour office with your acknowledgement number rather than filing a second claim.

Why Shramashree claims get rejected

• No underlying migrant worker registration. This is the single most common reason. Register under the 2023 scheme first.
• Domicile not established, the Aadhaar or EPIC produced was issued in another state and no parent's West Bengal document was attached.
• Bank account mismatch. The account is in a spouse's or parent's name, or the IFSC is wrong, so the transfer fails.
• Duplicate claim filed both online and at a camp under two different numbers.
• Employment already taken up in West Bengal before the claim, which ends entitlement to the monthly allowance.

Most of these are fixable. Correct the detail on the portal and resubmit, or ask the Registering Authority at the district Labour office to reopen the claim.

Key dates for Shramashree

• 19 August 2025, Labour Department notification No. Labr-69/2025/(LC-LW/MW) issued.
• 21 August 2025. The scheme took effect.
• No closing date has been announced. Shramashree runs as an open, rolling scheme, and claims are accepted as workers return.

Grievance route

Shramashree grievances follow the Labour Department chain: first the Registering Authority where the claim was filed (district or sub-divisional Labour office), then the Claim Sanctioning Authority, and finally the Labour Department's LW/MW Cell at N. S. Building (12th Floor), 1 K. S. Roy Road, Kolkata 700 001, which issued the notification.

Filing a Shramashree claim is free. No middleman can charge a fee to get a name onto the list, and no official will ask for the OTP sent to your mobile number.