File No.

17021/21/2019-SCD-III

SCHEME FOR RESIDENTIAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS IN HIGH

SCHOOLS IN TARGETED AREAS(SHRESHTA)(EARLIERKNOWN AS GRANT-
IN-AID TO VOLUNTARY AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS WORKING FOR
SCHEDULED CASTES)
(YEAR 2021-26)

1. OBJECTIVE
The objective of the scheme has been to enhance the reach of development
Intervention of the Government and fill the gap in service deficient SCs dominant
areas, in the sector of education through the efforts of Voluntary Organisations and
other organisations and to provide environment for socio economics upliftment and
overall development of the Scheduled Castes (SCs). The Scheme is modified with
the objective to provide quality
Residential education at High School (secondary and Higher Secondary) level to
bright Scheduled Caste students in states/UTs. This will enable bright SC students
to have a better future by getting high quality education, aid in controlling dropout
rates of SC students in class 9to 12 wherein the dropout rates is maximum and
induce creation of
qualityeducationalinstitutionsinstates/UTs.Theexistinginstitutionswhicharerunningsa
tisfactorily as per the inspections conducted by this Ministry will be continued to be
supported through grants under this scheme subject to compliance of the
conditions to be notified by this Ministry. Further, New High Schools(Secondary
and Higher Secondary Level) in Educationally Backward areas especially with
Scheduled Caste dominant population will also be supported after due approval of
the Screening Committee and found to be satisfactory as per the inspections
conducted by this Ministry. .

2. SCOPE AND COVERAGE

For next five years, the Scheme will be renamed as Scheme for Residential
Education for Students in High Schools in Targeted Areas (SHRESHTA) to be
operated under two Modes to enhance the academic performances for SC
students as under:

2.1 Mode 1:

(i) Each year 2200 meritorious SC students in States/UTs will be selected for
quality residential education in top-class residential High Schools available in or
nearby to the District. This will enable bright SC students to have a better future
by getting high quality education, aid in controlling dropout rates of SC students.
The students and the schools will be recommended by the District
Administration.

(ii) The admissions would be in Class 9 and Class11 and would be

automatically renewed up to class 12. Thereafter it will be connected to Post
Matric Scholarship Scheme or Top Class Education Scheme.
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

(iii) The good quality highly reputed and performing higher secondary schools
with residential facilities having classes from 9 to 12, whether existing projects or
new projects will be covered. The existing schools should have 100% pass
percentage for the last 5 years or since their inception if they are less than 5 years
old.

(iv) The students and the schools will be selected and recommended by the
District Administration.

(v) The students must belong to SC category and their family income should not
exceed Rs. 2,50,000/- per annum. Preference will be given to students whose
family income is less than Rs. 1,00,000/- and students having physical disability.
30% of the slots will be reserved for girl students. The students will be selected
through an open competitive examination/transparent selection process by the
District Administration. District Administration will upload three lists on E-anudaan
portal as below:

(i) List of all schools in districts alongwith selected school

(i) A detailed list of all eligible students (having Aadhar
Number) who have applied/appeared in entrance examination will be
uploaded on portal by District Administration.
(ii) A separate list of finally selected students (within the
allocated seats by GoI) in order of merit to be uploaded on e-Anudaan
Portal for calculation of grants .
(vi) Preference may be given to the Aspirational Districts identified by the NITI
Aayog and Educationally Backward Districts and the Districts having SC population
larger than National Average of 16.2%(as per Census 2011). District-wise
allocation of Seats will/have been communicated to each Districts.

(vii) The grants will be provided for tuition fee and residential charges as required by
the school, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 75,000/- per annum per student of class 9 and
10 and Rs. 1,25,000/- per annum per student of class 11 and 12.

(viii) Payment shall be made in two Installments each installment of 50% of annual
admissible grants. Payment of 2 nd installment (remaining 50% of GIA) shall be made
after examining the Aadhar based attendance system on half-yearly basis i.e. from
April to September. 1st installment of GIA will be released based on Aadhar linked
attendance record of last year (effective from FY 2022-23). The release of funds will
be directly to schools using an online process.

(ix) There will be a Bridge Course of 3 months to be provided to the students to

enable them to get acquainted to the school. This Bridge course will be student
specific and will target at enhancing the capability of the student to adept to the
environment of the school. The District Administration will take help of the concerned
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

school(s) in devising the Bridge Course. The grants for Bridge Course will be
provided to District Magistrate.
2.2 Mode 2: Schools/Hostels run by voluntary and other organizations who are
already getting Grant-in-aid will be continued, subject to the condition that they are
having adequate infrastructure, recognition of State Government / State School
Boards (in case of Schools) and maintaining the infrastructural and educational
standards as laid down by this Ministry from time to time. Further, New High
Schools (Secondary and Higher Secondary Level) will also be supported after due
approval of the Screening Committee.

3. IMPLEMENTINGAGENCY

Mode 1: The District Administration will be the prime implementing agency for
Mode 1. They will be in constant touch with the Ministry Officials phone, VC, Social
Media, etc. Various actions to be taken by them are indicated in para 2.1 above.

Mode 2: In order to be eligible for assistance under this Mode, a

VO/NGO/organization should meet the following conditions:-

i. It should be:-
a. Reputed school chains, CSR foundations, Reputed organisations, etc.
who are running good quality schools which are recognized by the State
Govt. and affiliated to State/Central Boards. or
b. Any other organisation of repute, which may be approved by the
Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
ii. The organisation should have been registered for at least two years, and
should have had at least two years experience of working in quality schools at
the time of applying for grant under the scheme. This can, however, be waived
off by the Secretary/Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary, Department of Social
Justice and Empowerment, for reasons to be recorded in writing, in
exceptional cases.
iii. The organization must have a Bank Account maintained and operated in the
name of organization for the last two years.
iv. The organisation shall have a properly constituted managing body with its
powers, duties and responsibilities clearly defined and laid down in a written
Constitution; it shall have an appropriate administrative structure and a duly
constituted Managing/Executive Committee.
v. The organisation is initiated and governed by its own members on democratic
principles.
vi. The organisation shall not run for profit to any individual or a body of
individuals.
vii.The organisation should have its own website for pro-active disclosure of the
information, as far as possible.
viii.The School shall have good campus and infrastructural facilities.
ix. The School shall have Aadhar Based Attendance System that can be
integrated into a central portal.
x. The standards required under the Scheme should be comparable to JNVs with
a bed for each student, toilets @ 1 per 10 students, classrooms @ 1 per
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

Section.
xi. The teachers appointed shall be qualified and well trained and the result of
10thand 12thclass pass/mark percentage in School shall not be less than
average Board result of the State/Central Board.

4. METHODOLOGY OF ASSISTANCE/ RELEASE OF GRANTS

Mode 1:

(i) The grants under of this Mode will be provided for tuition fee and residential
charges as required by the school, subject to a ceiling of Rs. 75,000/- per annum per
student of class 9 and 10 and Rs. 1,25,000/- per annum per student of class 11 and
12.

(ii) The release of funds will be directly to schools using an online process and
payment shall be made in two installments each installment is 50% of admissible
annual Grants @ Rs. 75000 p.a. for 9 th and 10th class and @Rs. 125000 p.a. for
11th and 12th class based on the Aadhar based attendance system.

Mode 2:

i. Under this Mode, grants shall be sanctioned in favour of the organisations

subject to prescribed financial norms and terms & conditions as stipulated and
revised from time to time by this Ministry.
ii. The grant shall be sanctioned as per the procedure laid down under General
Financial Rules, 2017 as amended from time to time.
iii. The Ministry will issue the sanction order in the name of the
President/Secretary and transfer the funds to the bank account of the
organization which should be under joint operation of President and Secretary.
If the headquarter of the organization is not located at the project site, the
funds will be in turn transferred by the organization into a bank account at the
project location to be jointly operated by the Secretary and a duly authorized
project head within 7(seven) days from the date of receipt of funds. For this
purpose, the organization shall open a bank account in the name of
organization at the project location also.
iv. The funds will normally be released through electronic transfer directly to the
bank account of the organization as referred in sub-para above.

(v) Organisations having presence in more than one State and having more
than one branch will be eligible to receive for each of its branches grants for
meeting expenditure on administrative overheads involving supervision and
monitoring of the performance of its various branches. Each branch can apply
separately or under the parent body.

(vi) New Projects: The total annual grant shall be released in two equal half-
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

yearly installments, first of which shall be released along with the sanction order in
the month of June. The second installment shall be released before end of
December after assessment of performance and considering the utilization of
funds including audited Statement of Accounts.

(vii) Ongoing Projects: This is for projects already approved i.e. projects getting
grant in aid continuously from the last one year. The total annual grant shall be
released in two half- yearly installments, first of which is 50% of the admissible
annual grant shall be released along with the sanction order in the month of June.
The second installment (remaining 50%) shall be released before end of
December after assessment of the performance and considering the utilization of
funds including audited Statement of Accounts.

(viii) The grant-in-aid shall be released after the grantee organization executes
an Agreement Bond in prescribed proforma to the effect that in the event of its
failure to abide by any or all the conditions stipulated in the sanction letter it shall
be liable to refund with interest thereon the whole or such part of the grant as the
Government of India may decide.

5. PROJECTS ELIGIBLE AND QUANTUM OF ASSISTANCE

i. Other than existing institutions (residential schools/non-residential

schools/hostels), assistance will be provided only to residential higher and
higher secondary schools having classes 9 to 12.
ii. The existing institutions (residential schools/non-residential schools/hostels)
which were found to be having satisfactory infrastructure as per inspection
conducted by this Ministry/PMU and conforming to the conditions of the
scheme shall be continued. The institutions which do not conform to the new
guidelines shall not be given any grant w.e.f. next financial year.
iii. The institutions must provide/arrange basic necessary facilities/infrastructure
to the students, which are as under:
a. Classrooms @ one room for each class
b. Sufficient number of benches for sitting all the students
c. A decent cot and bed @one for every child
d. Toilet/bathroom @ one for every 10 children
e. Hygienic Kitchen & dining room
f. Clean drinking water facility
g. Light and fans for every classroom and residing rooms
h. Play facility and Play ground
i. Qualified trained teacher in place as per standard of state Board
j. Installation of CCTVs and linkage of CCTV with website for live streaming
iv. If the staffs engaged by the organizations such as Warden, Aaya, Teacher,
Peon, Cook, Helper to Cook, Sweeper, Watchman, Office Assistant etc. are
working full time, the organization may ensure that the Honorariums are paid
as per the minimum rates prevailing in the district for similar jobs.
v. The grants under of the Scheme will be provided for tuition fee and residential
charges comparable with running cost of the schools/hostels shall be fixed to a
maximum of per SC student as under.
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

Per Institution number of SC students and grant allowed:

Number of students allowed* Cost per student limit (Rs per year)**

Residential Non residential Hostel Residential Non residential Hostel

Primary 50 100 50 35000 11000 16000
Secondary 100 100 100 55000 35000 28000
* Number of SC students will be allowed for ongoing projects based on pro-rata
basis of last three years with the approval of Bureau Head or the limit as allowed.
**Calculation/justification is given at Annexure-I.

Payment of 2nd installment shall be made after examining the attendance on half-
yearly basis i.e. from April to September. 1st installment of GIA will be released
based on attendance record of last year (effective from FY 2022-23).

6. PROCEDURE FOR MODIFICATION OF THE GUIDELINES

AND PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF THE PROPOSALS:

The detailed guidelines regarding eligibility conditions for availing grant-in

aid under the scheme, procedure of submission of applications and other terms
and conditions along with the extent of support are provided in this Section. These
guidelines may be modified from time to time, according to needs, with the
approval of the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment on the
recommendations of the Committee constituted under the Chairpersonship of
Secretary (SJ&E) with the concerned Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary and
representatives of NITI Aayog/ other concerned Ministries/Departments and
Integrated Finance Division of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
asMembers.

PROCEDURE FOR APPLICATION:

• All proposals received under the scheme will be considered in accordance

with general guidelines issued for processing of cases for grant-in aid to the
VOs/NGOs by the Ministry and the relevant provisions of the General Financial
Rules (GFR) - 2017 as amended from time to time and based on the
guidelines currently in prevalence and as amended from time to time. In case
of any ambiguity, provisions of GFR, as amended from time to time, will
prevail.

• Online Processing: The Ministry has introduced a computerized system for

on-line submission and processing of application of District
Adminisration/NGOs/VOs. The process flow in the electronic mode would
require the applications to be processed online at the District level and the
State level where verifications and approvals would be authenticated by digital
signatures by the designated officer for each Scheme at the District level and
the State level. All paper documents (originals) submitted by the NGOs would
be held by the District Social Welfare Officer, in physical form. All the applicant
NGOs under various schemes may be got registered online in the first
instance. The NIC units at district & State level will be available to render all
possible assistance to the concerned officials as well as the NGOs.
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

NGOs/VOs shall apply online on the e- Anudaan-portal of this Ministry

i.e.www.grants-msje.gov.in. Before applying for Grant-in-Aid, the NGO should
register itself on the NGO-PS (NGO Darpan)portal of the NITI Aayog and the
Registration number should be indicated in the relevant column of the
Applicationform.e- Anudaan-portal of this Ministry will soon be integrated with
the dedicated portal of NITI Aayog.

• Applications from NGOs/VOs in the prescribed proforma shall be

submitted/forwarded/recommended by the State Government / Administration
of the Union Territory on the e-Anudaan portal of this Ministry
(http://www.grants-msje.gov.in/).

• Fresh/NewProposals:

i. All fresh/new proposals for sanction of projects under the Scheme shall
be submitted online on the e-Anudaan portal of this Ministry
(http://www.grants-msje.gov.in/)in the prescribed proforma along with
relevant documents by as per time line prescribed by the Ministry from
time to time each year.
ii. As soon as the proposal is uploaded on e-Anudaan portal, it would be
available at Central Ministry level as well as at District
Administration/State Government level for examining the proposals at
their level. District Administration/State Government shall recommend
such New/Fresh proposals along-with Inspection reports by 30th May
each year or any other date as specified by the Government.
iii. Only such new/Fresh proposals which are received on e-Anudaan
portal within the stipulated time line, shall be considered by the
Screening Committee constituted for this purpose in the Ministry. Such
Proposals where recommendations of the State Governments are not
received by 30thMay or any other date specified by the Government
shall also be considered by the Screening committee on the basis of the
recommendations/report of the Regional Resource Training
Centre/central team /PMU/ specified Third party’s fieldreport.
iv. Meeting of the Screening committee shall be held in June each year in
whichtheState Government representative shall be given a second
opportunity to bring recommendations on all those proposals where
recommendation has not been uploaded by them till then.

(v) The new proposals received will be assessed on the following criteria
as per the following weightage:
a. Performance of the organization based on pre-determined parameters
set by the Screening Committee:50%
b. Capacity of resource generation/ mobilization of resources by the
organization from sources other than Government:20%
c. Experience of running schools/hostels for SC/STchildren:20%
d. Transparency/online pro-active disclosure by the organisation:10%
f. After approval of recommendations of the Screening Committee and
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

after concurrence of the Finance Division and approval of competent

authority sanction orders shall be issued by the programme division in
one-lot, and grants should bereleased.
g. Total annual grant shall be released in two equal half yearly
installmentswithin the specified time limit (June andDecember).
h. Second installment shall be released after receipt of progress report,
online monitoring, etc.
i. Grant-in-aid shall also be given to the organisation for the institutions,
which have been recommended by the Screening Committee.

• Ongoing/ RenewalProposals:

i. The applications for release of grant-in aid for ongoing projects shall be
submitted by the NGOs online on the e-Anudaan portal of this Ministry (http://
www.grants-msje.gov.in/) in the prescribed proforma along with relevant
documents, utilisation certificate of expenditure of previous FY, by 30th May or
any other date specified by the Ministry. The organisation will give justification
for continuation of on-going projects after assessing the impact with supporting
data. Following documents will need to besubmitted.
a. Utilization Certificate of the grant last released, in the format prescribed under
GFR- 12A. Audited / Unaudited accounts for the previous year indicating the
expenditure incurred on each sanctioned item vis-a-vis the grantsanctioned;
b. Budget Estimates for the financial year for which the grant-in-aid is
required;and
c. Annual Report giving Performance, with statistical data, of the projects
duringthe previous year. In case of new proposal this condition will not
beapplicable.
ii. Any application submitted offline without following the aforesaid procedure, will
not be entertained or considered by the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment. No correspondence in this regard would beentertained.
iii. Online portal ‘e-Anudaan’ shall allow updating of information on all the given
performance criteria at regular intervals. In addition to this, Implementing
Agencies Shall have closed circuit cameras from where live feed may be made
available on the website of theorganisations.
iv. Use of EAT module of the PFMS is mandatory for all theorganisations.
v. Total annual grant shall be released in two installments, as specified by
theMinistry.
vi. Second and final installment shall be released only after receiving the
Utilization certificate of previous grant, progress report, and observing the
performance of the organisation,etc.
vii.The implementing Agency shall, before it receives assistance from Ministry of
Social Justice & Empowerment, execute a bond in the prescribed proforma.
The transfer of funds would be done only after acceptance of the Bond by the
competent authority in the Ministry. However, in respect of on-going projects,
the application for release of funds should accompany with the bond executed
on the abovelines.
viii.Change of Location of the Projects: Change of location of the projects shall
be made by the State Government/UT Administration under intimation to this
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

Ministry. State Governments/ District Administrations shall have powers to re-

allocate the location of the project within the District or in the State, in view of
requirement of the project in a specific Location/District. However, the selected
location should be within the location criteria spelt out in the Scheme
guidelines.

7. EXPENDITURE AND ACCOUNTS

i. In case the actual expenditure on the items for which assistance was
sanctioned falls below the level at which the grant was determined, the
organization shall be liable to refund unutilized portion of the grant to the
Government of India or the unutilized portion of grant shall be adjusted against
the grant admissible for the subsequent financialyear.
ii. An aided organization must exercise reasonable economy in the expenditure
on the approved items.
iii. An aided organization shall maintain separate accounts of the grants received
under this scheme. These shall always be open to check by an officer deputed
by the Government of India or State Government. These shall also be open to
check by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India at their discretion.
iv. An aided organization shall maintain Register of Assets in the proforma
prescribed under GFR wherein all assets of permanent value and machinery
and equipment having a life of not less than 5 years and costing Rs.10,000
and above (each item) should beentered.
v. After the closure of the financial year an aided organization will submit audited
statement of accounts with utilization certificate for all expenditureincurred.

vi. An aided organization will also submit to the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment a statement in the proforma prescribed under GFR showing the
equipment/machinery/furniture purchased, with its price, out of the grant-in-
aidreceived.

8. OTHER CONDITIONS

i. If an organization has already received or is expected to receive grant-in-aid

from some other Government official sources for the same purpose for which
an application is being made under the scheme, an assessment of Central
grant-in-aid will normally be made after taking into account grant-in-aid from
other such official sources.
ii. If it is found at a later stage that the organization had withheld or suppressed
information regarding the grant-in-aid from other Government official sources
or otherwise had given factually incorrect information, the grant-in-aid of the
Government of India may either be cancelled or reduced and the organization
may be asked to refund the grant already given with interest rate of 12%
thereon and as per the Government guidelines issued from time to time in this
regard.

iii. No capitation or other similar fees or donation in any form shall be charged
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

from any beneficiary. In case any fee is charged from the beneficiary, it must
be shown in the statement of accounts to be furnished to the
Ministry/prescribed agency so that the amount so raised could be deducted
from the admissible amount of grant-in-aid.

iv.Financial norms for the projects wherever not specified under the Scheme would be
decided by the Ministry on case to case basis.

v. Financial norms for releasing the grants to the charitable companies licensed
under Section 25 of the Company’s Act 1958 under the administrative control
of the Ministry would be decided on case to casebasis.

vi. Residential schools for girls must have female service staff, wardens and
chowkidars, and adequate security provisions.

vii.Students studying in schools assisted under this Scheme shall not be eligible
for assistance under any other scheme of the Government for the items
already covered under this Scheme.

9. MONITORING

i. All institutions which are receiving grants-in-aid under the Scheme shall
proactively disclose the performance on their website and also on the e-
Anudaan/online portal. For this purpose, there shall be an online portal. This
portal shall allow updating of the information on all the given performance
criteria at regularintervals.
ii. A real time Data Management Information System (MIS) for collection and
dissemination of progress of the scheme will be put in place for better
reporting on output outcome indicators. The MIS of the scheme will be linked
through API to ‘Output Outcome Monitoring Framework’ (OOMF) Dashboard.
iii. In every institution there shall be closed circuit cameras from where live feed
shall be available on their website. The right to view this can be restricted in
specific cases. The cost of setting up these cameras and for their live feed has
been provided in the scheme cost.
iv. All the organizations which are sanctioned grants-in-aid are expected to give
correct figures about their performance. The institutions are liable for a field
visit by an inspection team constituted for this purpose. Based on the
inspection report, a decision could be taken for continuation or otherwise of
grants at any time.

v. Any NGO found to have given false information would be blacklisted and such
blacklisting will also be communicated to NITI Aayog for removing the
organization from NGO Darpan portal.
File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

*****
 File No.17021/21/2019-SCD-III

Annexure-I

Calculation/justification in respect of the cost per unit student under Mode-2

Till last financial year 90% of the operational costs (95% of cost in respect of
the institutions in NE States and UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh) of the institutions
(residential schools/non-residential schools/hostels for primary/secondary schools)
were financed through the scheme. This included salary/honorarium of staff, rent
of the building, electricity and water charges, doctor’s visit, medicines,
sanitations,food and other consumables, books, uniforms, games & sports
equipments, excursion, CCTV installation and streaming, utensils, .cots and
beddings, benches & desks/chairs & tables, etc. The approved items had been
indicated in the Appendix-I to Appendix-VI of the earlier guidelines.

A thorough study has been made of the grant being given to the existing
institutions. Based on the grants being given to six different types of grantee
institutions and available SC students in the said organisations, unitary costs per
student have been found out (for different type of institutions).

By use of unitary cost norm(per student), the Appendices of the previous

guidelines will be redundant. The scheme will be transparent. Manipulation of costs
will reduce. The scheme will become more beneficiary oriented instead of
becoming NGO/VO oriented.

*****