Caste Certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

What is a caste certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?

A caste certificate in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is the revenue document certifying that you belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class notified for this Union Territory. It is the document required to claim reservation in UT government recruitment, in admissions to institutions in the territory and in reserved seats outside it, in scholarships, and in the welfare and finance schemes run through bodies such as the UT's Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities Financial Development Corporation.

The certificate matters here more than the territory's small population might suggest. Dadra and Nagar Haveli has one of the highest Scheduled Tribe population shares of any territory in India; communities including the Varli, Dhodia, Kokna and Koli make up the great majority of the Silvassa district's residents, so the ST certificate is a routine, high-volume document for the Mamlatdar's office there rather than an exceptional one.

The Revenue Department of the UT Administration issues the certificate. The working office is the Mamlatdar of the taluka. The same designation used across Gujarat and the former Portuguese territories, and above the Mamlatdar sit the two District Collectorates: one at Silvassa 396230 for Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and one at Dholar, Moti Daman 396220 for Daman and Diu.

The online channel is SUGAM, described on its own pages as Sugam Access to Government Services, operated by the Revenue Department of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at sugam.dddgov.in. Its service list carries the caste certificate alongside income, domicile, EWS, OBC and heirship certificates, record of rights documents, land tax payment and certified copies. The UT's main website at ddd.gov.in likewise lists revenue services, including caste certificates, among its online services.

A note on the two districts

This Union Territory was created in 2020 by merging two separate Union Territories; Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu, which is why the administration still runs two Collectorates and separate Mamlatdar offices. The practical consequence for an applicant is simple: apply through the Mamlatdar of the taluka where you actually live. The SUGAM portal serves both districts, but the verification is done locally by the revenue officer with jurisdiction over your address, and an application filed in the wrong district will be redirected.

Who can and who cannot apply?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of the Union Territory: in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, in Daman or in Diu, and apply through the Mamlatdar of your own taluka.
• Your caste, tribe or backward class is notified for this Union Territory under the applicable Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Class orders.
• You can produce caste evidence from the paternal line, a certificate already issued to your father, grandfather or paternal uncle by a competent authority, or a school record carrying the community entry.
• For an OBC certificate, your family is outside the creamy layer as notified by the Government of India from time to time.

You cannot apply, or will not be granted the certificate, if:

• Your caste is not notified for this Union Territory. A community listed in Gujarat, Maharashtra or another state does not automatically qualify here, even where the same community name appears on both lists.
• You are claiming a reserved category because of marriage. Caste status in India follows birth into the community and does not transfer by marriage.
• You are not resident in the Union Territory, in which case you must apply to the revenue authority of the state where you actually live.
• You are an OBC applicant within the creamy layer, in which case the caste being listed does not by itself get you the non-creamy-layer benefit.

What documents are required?

The strongest single document you can bring is an existing certificate for a paternal blood relative. Where no such certificate exists in the family, which is common in first-generation applicants — the verification falls back on village records, school admission registers and the field enquiry by the Mamlatdar's staff, and takes correspondingly longer.

How to apply for a caste certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

1. Open the SUGAM portal at sugam.dddgov.in and go to the Revenue Department's service list, where the Caste Certificate appears alongside income, domicile, EWS and OBC certificates. Register or log in as the portal directs.
2. Select the correct service, caste certificate for an SC or ST claim, or the OBC certificate service, which SUGAM lists separately. Picking the wrong one restarts the process.
3. Fill the application with your name, father's name, address, taluka and district: Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman or Diu, and the exact community name as notified for this Union Territory.
4. Upload the documents. The paternal relative's caste certificate, residence proof, identity proof, photograph and the self-declaration. Scan cleanly; an illegible upload is the most common cause of a file being sent back.
5. Submit and note the application or acknowledgement number. Every later status enquiry runs on it.
6. Cooperate with the Mamlatdar's verification. The revenue staff check the family's community record and your residence in the taluka, and may make a field enquiry. Keep the original documents available.
7. Collect or download the certificate once the Mamlatdar has approved it.

How to apply offline at the Mamlatdar's office

1. Visit the Mamlatdar's office of your taluka, the Daman Mamlatdar's services are listed on SUGAM, and the Collectorates at Silvassa and Moti Daman can direct you to the correct office for your address.
2. Ask for the caste certificate application form and state whether you need an SC, ST or OBC certificate.
3. Attach the paternal relative's caste certificate, residence proof, identity proof, photograph and the self-declaration or affidavit.
4. Submit at the counter and collect the acknowledgement carrying your application number.
5. Follow up with the same office, and collect the certificate once signed.

How long does it take and how do I check status?

The National Government Services Portal, the Government of India's directory of state services, records the Scheduled Caste certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli as available online within 20 days of receipt of the application, and the OBC certificate within 20 working days from the date of receipt of the application. Treat these as the published service standards and confirm the current figure against the service page on SUGAM when you apply, since UT service standards are revised from time to time.

To check status:

• Use the application status option on sugam.dddgov.in with your acknowledgement number.
• Ask at the Mamlatdar's office where you applied, which can tell you which desk the file is on.
• Escalate to the Collectorate, Silvassa 396230 for Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Dholar, Moti Daman 396220 for Daman and Diu; if the published period has passed with no movement.

Is the certificate valid for life?

Caste is a fact of birth, so an SC or ST certificate issued by the UT is generally treated as a permanent document and is not re-issued on a fixed cycle. The status that genuinely changes is OBC non-creamy-layer, because creamy layer depends on current family income and occupation. Where a recruitment advertisement or an admission notice asks for a certificate issued within a recent period, that requirement is aimed at the creamy layer test; apply afresh through SUGAM rather than submitting an older certificate and hoping it is accepted.

Why do applications get rejected?

• No caste evidence in the family, leaving the Mamlatdar's office with nothing to verify the claim against.
• Community not notified for this Union Territory, or entered under a local variant name that does not match the notified entry.
• Wrong district or taluka, so the file sits with an officer without jurisdiction over the applicant's residence.
• Illegible or incomplete uploads on the SUGAM application.
• Claim based on marriage rather than birth.
• Creamy layer for an OBC applicant.
• Address on the application not matching the residence proof, which stops the field verification.

Where do I complain or get help?

• SUGAM portal: sugam.dddgov.in, the Revenue Department's online service portal for both districts, covering the caste certificate and the OBC certificate.
• UT Administration website: ddd.gov.in, and the Collectorate page at ddd.gov.in/collectorate for the addresses and contacts of both Collectorates.
• District Collectorate, Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Silvassa 396230.
• District Collectorate, Daman: Dholar, Moti Daman 396220.
• Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System: pgportal.gov.in, which the UT's own services page identifies as its grievance redressal channel.

Apply directly on SUGAM or at your Mamlatdar's office and pay only the charge the portal or the counter actually displays. The Union Territory put its revenue certificates online precisely so that a citizen in Silvassa, Daman or Diu can reach the Mamlatdar without a broker. A certificate obtained on false caste particulars is liable to be cancelled together with whatever seat, scholarship or appointment it was used to obtain, and the person who arranged it faces prosecution alongside the applicant.