Ashraya Adhar Scheme

What is the Ashraya Adhar Scheme?

The Ashraya Adhar Scheme is a concessional housing loan of the Goa State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation Limited, a corporation under the Department of Tribal Welfare, Government of Goa. The scheme lends Rs 5,00,000 at 2% per annum to members of the Scheduled Tribe community in Goa for the repair, renovation or reconstruction of their houses.

The Corporation's stated reasoning is direct. Many Scheduled Tribe families in Goa want to repair or rebuild, but the interest rates offered by commercial banks put a housing loan out of reach. A 2% loan from the Corporation closes that gap without turning the assistance into a grant.

Goa's Scheduled Tribe population is concentrated in the Gawda, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar communities, largely in the Sanguem, Quepem, Canacona, Sattari and Ponda talukas, and a significant part of that housing stock is mundcarial, houses held under Goa's mundkar tenure. The scheme expressly includes a mundcarial house within the definition of a house the applicant may own.

How much is the loan and how is it released?

The Corporation advances Rs 5,00,000 as financial assistance in the form of a loan at 2% per annum.

The release happens in two tranches, after the documentation is complete in all respects:

Two conditions ride on the money. The loanee must commence the actual work within 3 months from the date the sanctioned amount is released. And the beneficiary must be insured for life and property with an insurance agency identified by the Corporation, with the premium borne by the loanee unless the Corporation decides otherwise.

Who is eligible for the Ashraya Adhar Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Tribe community.
• You own a house, individually or jointly. A mundcarial house counts as an owned house for this scheme.
• Your age is not more than 55 years on the date of the loan application. The limit is relaxed up to 58 years if you are an employee of the State or Central Government, a Government Corporation, a Board or an aided institute.
• You can produce income proof adequate to service the loan, and the sureties required for your case.

A special rule helps joint families. Where the house is owned jointly and different family units reside separately in the same house, each such unit is eligible for financial support. A single roof does not restrict the family to a single loan.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Tribe.
• You do not own the house, a tenant with no ownership or mundcarial right has no claim under this scheme.
• You are over 55 years of age and are not a government, corporation, board or aided-institute employee entitled to the relaxation to 58.
• You cannot produce a latest house tax receipt for the property.
• You are seeking funds to buy a new house or plot. The scheme is confined to repair, renovation and reconstruction of an existing house.
• A co-owner refuses to give the No Objection Certificate where the property is jointly held.

What documents are required?

1. Scheduled Tribe certificate (self-attested).
2. Age proof: birth certificate, school leaving certificate or driving licence (self-attested).
3. Self affidavit on Rs 50 stamp paper, duly notarised.
4. Latest house tax receipt (original or self-attested).
5. NOC from the co-owner, if any, on Rs 50 stamp paper, duly notarised.
6. Income proof — salary certificate or last 3 months' payslips with Form 16, or last 6 months' bank statement. A self-employed applicant produces the last 3 years' income tax returns with 6 months' bank statement, or an income declaration cum affidavit on Rs 50 stamp paper, duly notarised.
7. Two sureties, each with one passport photograph, latest salary certificate or last 3 months' payslips with 6 months' bank statement or Form 16, an affidavit of surety on Rs 50 stamp paper duly notarised, and ID proof. Where one surety works in a Government Department, Corporation, Board or aided institute, the second surety is not required. Where the applicant is such an employee, no surety is required.
8. Estimated cost of repair, renovation or reconstruction, in the prescribed format.
9. Photographs of the house to be repaired, renovated or reconstructed.
10. Aadhaar card copy (self-attested).
11. Two passport-size photographs of the applicant.
12. Bank mandate form.

The surety requirement is where most applications stall. Read rule 7 carefully before you approach anyone, a single government-employed surety does the work of two, and a government-employed applicant needs none.

How to apply for the Ashraya Adhar Scheme

Applications are accepted offline.

1. Visit the office of the Goa State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation Limited, 2nd floor, Smruti Building, Swami Vivekanand Road, Altinho, Panaji, Goa 403001.
2. Request a hard copy of the proforma of the application form for the scheme from the concerned officer of the Corporation.
3. Fill in all mandatory fields, paste a passport-sized photograph signed across, and attach self-attested copies of every document in the list above, including the notarised affidavits.
4. Submit the duly filled and signed application form with the documents to the concerned officer. The loan application is accepted only after proper scrutiny.
5. Acquire the receipt or acknowledgement of successful submission from the concerned officer.

What happens after I apply?

The Corporation follows a fixed sequence:

• A list of eligible applicants is prepared from the applications received.
• A physical verification or inspection of the house is carried out by an officer of the Corporation.
• The application, documents and inspection report are placed before the sanctioning authority for appraisal and approval.

Application status can be checked with the District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO), who is the point of contact named for status enquiries under this scheme, or at the Corporation's own office in Altinho.

After sanction, the first instalment of Rs 3,75,000 is released, work must start within 3 months, and the second instalment of Rs 1,25,000 follows only when you submit utilisation bills and the Corporation's officer has physically verified the work done.

Why do applications get rejected or delayed?

• Sureties not in order. An incomplete surety affidavit, or a surety whose income documents do not satisfy the Corporation.
• House tax receipt not current, so ownership and occupation cannot be established.
• Co-owner's NOC missing in a jointly held property.
• Applicant over the age limit and not covered by the relaxation to 58.
• Cost estimate not in the prescribed format, or wildly out of line with the photographs of the house.
• Work not commenced within 3 months of the first release, which puts the second instalment in question.
• Utilisation bills not produced, which stops the Rs 1,25,000 second instalment.

Where do I complain or get help?

The Corporation itself, at the Altinho office in Panaji, is the first point of contact. The Department of Tribal Welfare, Government of Goa, publishes its schemes and contact details at tribalwelfare.goa.gov.in, and the department page on the state portal at goa.gov.in carries the departmental directory.

The Government of Goa's public grievance registration route on goaonline.gov.in allows a grievance to be filed against the department and tracked by reference number.

Practical advice

• Start the notarised paperwork early. Three separate documents in this scheme need Rs 50 stamp paper and notarisation. The self affidavit, the co-owner NOC and each surety affidavit.
• Have the estimate prepared properly. The Corporation's format exists so that the estimate can be checked against the inspection, and a casual estimate invites a reduced sanction.
• Plan to start work quickly. The 3-month commencement condition is not a formality; the second instalment depends on demonstrated utilisation of the first.
• Budget for the insurance premium. Life and property cover is compulsory and the premium is normally on you, so add it to the project cost rather than discovering it at disbursement.