Disaster Relief Name Mismatch in Uttarakhand: Ex Gratia and Compensation Claims

From the central Government's list of items and norms of assistance from the disaster response fund, issued in October 2022 for the years to 2026, as states have published it. We give no amounts. They are revised, and a newer list may now apply.

Two words recur in the norms: certified, and family. Each payment waits on an authority certifying something, and several go to a family and not to a named person. Both are where names come in.

The second and third often come together, in an older couple whose papers were made by others. The husband is on record in two forms and the wife in a third, and the tehsil has to be shown that these are one household.

Step 1: Ask the revenue official how your family is entered on the list

The name of the person affected, the head of the family, and the loss recorded.

Step 2: Read those names against Aadhaar and the bank passbook

Relief is paid into an account, on an identity paper.

Step 3: Ask for a slip in the list to be corrected at once

While the survey is still open, and the official still remembers the house.

Step 4: For a death, get the death certificate and the certificate of cause

Read the name of the person who died on both.

Step 5: Gather what shows who the family is

A family register entry, a ration card, the claimant's own identity paper.

Step 6: For a house, gather what shows whose it was

A land record, a house tax receipt, an electricity bill.

Step 7: See that the bank account is open and in the claimant's own name

A dormant or wrongly named account sends the payment back.

Step 8: Where two papers still differ, ask the tehsil what it will accept

In writing. A sworn statement and a certificate from the village head are often taken.

• The norms provide a payment to the family of a person who died, once the cause of death is certified by the appropriate authority.
• So two certificates are read: the death certificate, and whatever certifies that the disaster caused the death.
• The name of the person who died should be the same on both, and should match that person's own identity paper.
• The Registrar corrects a slip in a death certificate, on the dead person's Aadhaar or other papers.
• The family then shows who it is: a spouse, children, parents. The family register and a ration card usually serve.
• Nobody can change the name of a person who has died. Where his papers were in two forms, they are linked by other proof.

Read name correction in a death certificate and legal heir certificate and nominee name mismatch in a bank claim, for the dead person's own accounts.

• The norms provide help for a house destroyed or damaged, by its kind and how badly it was hit.
• The administration asks whose house it was. In a village that is often a father or grandfather, long dead, whose name still stands in the record.
• Several brothers may have lived in parts of one house, under one roof and one entry.
• Show what you have: the land record, a house tax receipt, an electricity or water bill, the family register.
• Ask the tehsil how it treats a house recorded in a dead parent's name, and what each brother has to show.
• Help to rebuild elsewhere, where the old site is unsafe, is a separate decision with its own papers.

For the future, have the land recorded in the living holders' names. Read name correction in khatauni and land records, name change in property documents and PMAY and Government scheme records.

Step 1: Do not start a Gazette for a relief claim

A Gazette takes weeks, and changes a living person's name. Relief is a matter of identity and relationship.

Step 2: Remember that a dead person's name cannot be changed

The papers of the person who died are linked by other proof, not altered.

Step 3: Use this only if the claimant changed a name by choice earlier

And the papers were never brought to the new name.

Step 4: Make the affidavit and publish the newspaper notice

Sign before a notary. Publish in a daily local leading newspaper, and keep the original newspaper.

Step 5: Type the form and sign the undertaking

Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.

Step 6: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate

The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.

Step 7: Pay the charge on BharatKosh

Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.

Step 8: Send the file yourself

To the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. Tell the tehsil that a notice is on its way.

See name correction vs name change.

A typical case we handle: a family in Rudraprayag lost part of their house in a cloudburst. The relief list had the head of the family as "Bachi Ram". His Aadhaar and bank account read "Bachan Singh Rawat". The payment came back from the bank. His son was told by someone in the market to get a Gazette. No name had been changed, and a Gazette would have taken weeks. He went to the tehsil with his father's Aadhaar and passbook. The entry was corrected and the payment sent again. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.

What is a lawyer's job, not ours

A missing person, a dispute within the family over who is paid, and a refusal of relief.

When you do not need us

For every relief claim. The tehsil, the Registrar and the bank settle the names. If anyone tells you a Gazette is needed for relief, ask the tehsil before you spend anything.

Who gives disaster relief in Uttarakhand?

The district administration, through the tehsil.

How do I correct my name on the relief list?

Ask the revenue official, with Aadhaar, while the survey is open.

Is a death certificate needed for ex gratia?

The cause of death has to be certified by the appropriate authority.

Why did the relief payment bounce back?

Often the account's name differs from the list.

Is a gazette needed for a disaster relief name mismatch?

No.

What if a family member is missing after a disaster?

Report it at once, and ask the district administration.

How much ex gratia is paid for a death in a disaster?

Under the national norms for 2022-23 to 2025-26, Rs 4 lakh per person who died, including those involved in relief work. Check the tehsil for the norms now in force.

How much is paid for loss of a limb or an eye?

The same norms set Rs 74,000 per person where the disability is between 40 and 60 per cent, and Rs 2.5 lakh where it is more than 60 per cent.

Does Uttarakhand pay more than the national norms?

After the 2025 disasters the Chief Minister announced Rs 5 lakh each for families of the dead and for completely damaged houses in Dharali and Pauri. The amount above the national norms was to come from his discretionary fund.

Which years do the relief norms cover?

The norms most states published were revised for 2022-23 to 2025-26, on the Fifteenth Finance Commission's advice. That period has ended, so ask whether a newer list applies.

Is relief paid for clothing and household goods?

Yes. The norms set a sum per family for loss of clothing, and another for utensils and household goods. The family is identified on the relief list.

Can a person treated under Ayushman Bharat also claim injury relief?

The norms note that injured persons getting treatment under Ayushman Bharat are not eligible for the injury payment. The name on the Ayushman card is read as well.