FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME
 

1)   What is Social Assistance Scheme ? Who can apply for it ? How can it be applied for and what is the benefit that one can enjoy ?

 

Answer:- Social Assistance scheme is a benevolent and welfare scheme sponsored by Govt. to provide assistance to the poor/ destitute and weaker section of the society. A person can be assisted under following schemes after fulfilling the criteria laid down there in. The schemes   are : O.A.P (Old Age Pension)/ W.P (Widow Pension)/ N.O.A.P (National Old Age Pension).

 

Eligibility Conditions:-

  • A person has to be 60 years old (in case of NOAP it is 65)

  • For a widow there is no age restriction but she should be of 18 years old.

  • He has to be a destitute and no other source of income.

  • The annual income should not exceed more than Rs.3,200/-

  • Should be a permanent resident of a village.

  • Should not have been assisted by any other Social Assistance Scheme.

  • Should not have been convicted in any court of law.

BENEFIT:-

A selected person will get Rs.100/- per month on 15th of every month at the Gram Panchayat Headquarters.

 

2) Is there any provision to assist a handicap or a disable person ? What are the guidelines and how can one apply for it ?

Answer:- Yes. There is a Social Assistance Scheme called O.D.P (Other Disability Pension) exclusively meant for disables and handicaps. The guidelines to avail the above assistance is as follows:-

  1. One has to be a minimum of 5 years old.

  2. He should be a permanent resident of a village.

  3. Should not have been assisted under any other social assistance scheme of Government.

  4. The minimum percentage of disableness should be 60%

  5. One should appear before a selection committee consisting of Medical Officer, Public Health Centre, Block Development Officer (BDO) and Tahasildar.

  6. He should not have been convicted in any court of law.

BENEFIT:-

A selected person will get Rs.100/- per month on 15th of every month at the Gram Panchayat headquarters.

 

3)  What is a National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) ? Who can apply for it and what is the benefit?

Answer:- National Family Benefit Scheme is a Social Assistance Scheme meant for the living spouse of a deceased person, who is the earning member of the family. The guidelines for the above scheme are as follows:

  1. The deceased person should be a BPL Category.

  2. The deceased person should be the earning member of the family.

  3. The deceased person should in between 19 to 64 years of age.

  4. The claimant should produce a death certificate duly issued by Medical Officer of concerned PHC.

  5. Should not have received any post death benefit assistance from any other Insurance Company.

BENEFIT:

The spouse of the deceased will receive Rs.10,000/- from the competent authority, under the above scheme.

 

4) What is National Maternity Benefit Scheme ? How one can apply for it and what are the guidelines ?

Answer:- National Maternity Benefit scheme is a Social Assistance Scheme meant for providing some financial assistance to a Pregnant woman of a BPL House hold. The guidelines are as follows:

  1. should be a permanent resident of a village

  2. should belong to a BPL category

  3. one can enjoy the benefit during her 1st and 2nd pregnancy only.

  4. one can apply during 8 - 9 months pregnancy only.

BENEFIT :

The pregnant woman will get Rs.500/- from the competent authority during 8 to 9 months of her pregnancy.

 

5) What is Balika Sambrudhi Yojana ? Who is eligible for it ? And how can it be applied for ?

Answer:- It is a financial assistance provided to the mother of a newly born girl child. The eligibility criteria for the above scheme are as follows:

  • The mother should belong to the BPL category.

  • The girl child should be of 1st or 2nd pregnancy only.

BENEFIT:

The mother will receive Rs.500/- from the competent authority.

 

6) What is Arnapurna Yojana Scheme ? What are the provisions and who can apply for it ?

Answer:- A social assistance scheme where a poor/ destitute and helpless person gets rice at free of cost for his / her survival. The eligibility guidelines are as follows :

  1. The persons should be a helpless and destitute

  2. The persons should be a minimum of 25 years old

  3. The persons should not have been assisted under any other social assistance schemes like OAP/ NOAP/ WP etc.

  4. The eligible persons will be selected through Palli Sabha.

BENEFIT:

The selected person will get 10 Kgs of rice from the Gram Panchayat Secretary at free of cost.

 

7) What is Arnapurna Antodaya Yojana ? Who can apply for it and what is the provisions for it ?

Answer:- It is a social assistance scheme where a selected person gets rice at a subsidised price for survival of his family. The guidelines are as follows:

  1. One has to be a BPL card holder of 1997 BPL list. The priority will be given to a woman where she is the head of the family.

  2. The disables and handicaps will be given next priority

  3. The landless BPL holders will be given 3rd priority.

  4. One should not have been assisted under any other social assistance schemes like OAP/ WP/ NOAP etc.

BENEFIT :

A selected person will receive 25 kgs of rice at a subsidised rate of Rs.3/- per month.

 

S.G.S.Y

 

1st Man :

It is learnt that Blocks are giving loans to the poor under SGSY scheme.

 

Who deals with that in our Block.

An Employee :

SGSY loans are under P.A, concerned E.O and V.L.W. By the way where are you from?

1st Man :

I am from XYZ village.

Employee:

Better meet your V.L.W/ E.O or P.A. They will guide through. (He meets the V.L.W/ E.O or P.A)

1st Man :

Sir I am from .............. village. I am a poor man and wants to avail a loan under SGSY. What should I do?

PA/ E.O:

To get a loan under SGSY one has to meet certain criteria, like:

  1. One has to be a permanent resident of a village.

  2. One has to be a BPL Card Holder of 1997 BPL list.

  3. One must not be a loanee of any Bank or SCS.

  4. The opted project has to be a NABARD approved one.

If one fulfils the above criteria he has to attend the Palli Sabha where a Three Men Committee will consider his case. Upon his selection by them his application will be filled in and will be duly sponsored to the concerned Bank for sanction and disbursement of loan.

Apart from this, if you form a group ( only BPL Holders) SHG loans may be disbursed under certain criteria like :-

  1. The group must be 2 years old.

  2. It has to pass Grade- I  and Grade-II tests.

  3. The opted scheme must be approved by NABARD.

This is the process and you can apply for either.

 

I.A.Y (NORMAL)

 

Group of Men:

We are a group of poor villagers of ................ village. We are homeless. We come to know that Block is sanctioning IAY houses to the homeless. Who should we talk to ?

Block Employee:

The Senior Clerk in the Development Section is looking after IAY. You can meet him in the Development Section. (The group of men go and meet the clerk)

Group of Men:

We have come with a view to getting houses under IAY. What should we do?

Concerned Assistant:

To get houses under IAY you have to meet the following guidelines.

  1. You should be a permanent resident of a village.

  2. You should be a BPL Card holder.

  3. You should be landless and homeless.

  4. Your name should be selected in the Gram Sabha so that work order will be issued to you. Then you enjoy the benefit of home.

Of course, the Govt. has reserved some percentage for some category like Green Card Holders, Handicaps.

 

To avail houses under Spl.IAY scheme one has to meet the following guidelines like:

  1. One has to be a permanent resident of a village

  2. One has to be a BPL Card Holder

  3. One's dwelling houses should have been damaged / collapsed (either partly or fully) in the last Super Cyclone.

  4. He should have received either Rs.2000/- or Rs.1000/- as exgratia help from the concerned Tahasildar.

  5. He should not have other pucca houses in the village.

  6. He should not have availed any financial assistance for construction of his house from any Govt or non-Govt organisations.

  7. A person who has received only Rs.1000/- as ex-gratia and satisfies the above criteria, his name will be considered through drawl of lottery.