The Ministry of Rural Development provided a status update on the National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) in response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1596 answered on July 28, 2026. Under NFBS, financial assistance is released to States and Union Territories based on proposals received from them, subject to State/UT-wise beneficiary caps. The Ministry processes complete proposals expeditiously for release of funds and regularly requests States/UTs through letters and review meetings to submit complete proposals in a timely manner.
Starting from 2026-27, funds under NFBS are being released through the SNA-SPARSH mechanism. Under this system, States/UTs with legislature, after onboarding on SNA-SPARSH, utilize funds against the Mother Sanction issued by the Ministry. For the first installment of 2026-27, the Ministry has issued a Mother Sanction of ₹369.25 crore under NFBS to the States/UTs. States/UTs that have completed onboarding on SNA-SPARSH can utilize this Mother Sanction for disbursement of benefits, while the Ministry is providing handholding and technical support to facilitate early onboarding of remaining States/UTs.
The annexure provides detailed State/UT-wise data on funds released under NFBS during the last five years and beneficiary caps. The total funds released were ₹339.25 crore in 2021-22, ₹458.88 crore in 2022-23, ₹336.48 crore in 2023-24, ₹394.19 crore in 2024-25, and ₹380.14 crore in 2025-26. The grand total State/UT cap/ceiling across all jurisdictions is 358,840 beneficiaries.
Key state allocations in 2025-26 include Uttar Pradesh (₹112.90 crore, cap: 73,075), West Bengal (₹44.40 crore, cap: 21,553), Karnataka (₹47.15 crore, cap: 18,312), Odisha (₹49.85 crore, cap: 24,697), and Tamil Nadu (₹12.06 crore, cap: 18,445). Several states including Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Telangana, and multiple Union Territories showed zero fund releases across multiple years despite having established beneficiary caps. The information was provided by Kamlesh Paswan, Minister of State for Rural Development, in a written reply to Lok Sabha.