Scheme for Providing (Golden Jubilee) One Time Grant-In-Aid in Memory of Blessed Mother Tereza

What is the Mother Tereza one-time grant-in-aid scheme?

Scheme for Providing (Golden Jubilee) One Time Grant-In-Aid in Memory of Blessed Mother Tereza is a grant scheme of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Goa, which came into force with effect from 1 April 2011. It was framed as a Golden Jubilee scheme, around the fiftieth anniversary of Goa's liberation, and named in memory of Blessed Mother Teresa.

The Directorate's own statement of the problem is direct. There are thousands of children living in slums and on the streets of Goa, along with orphans and runaways escaping poverty, neglect or abuse. These children are often at great risk from malnutrition, illness and neglect, and are frequently looked upon as a threat rather than as a child in need. Alongside them are the aged, the destitute and the disabled who need help with health care, shelter, food, clothing and free medication, and who are exposed to human trafficking.

The scheme's answer is not to fund individuals but to fund the institutions that already do this work. Its stated objectives are to provide support to underprivileged children, the aged, the destitute and disabled people; to recognise and strengthen the sustainable efforts of reputed institutions providing a meaningful, safe and playful environment, food, shelter and health care; to support institutions in implementing their programmes; and to take care of all such underprivileged, downtrodden and neglected sections of society.

Locally the scheme is usually just called the Mother Tereza Scheme, and it is listed under the Grants section of the Directorate of Art and Culture.

Who is eligible for the Mother Tereza grant?

The scheme operates in three clauses, and eligibility works differently in each.

Clause (A). The named list. The scheme carries a list of institutions eligible for direct release, which includes Snehamandir, Ponda; Lokvishwas Pratishthan, Ponda; Sanjeevan, Ponda; Matruchhaya, Ponda; Kasturba Matoshri Trust, Panaji; Children's Rights in Goa, Panaji; Sangat, Panaji; Jan Ugahi, Margao; Positive People, Panaji; Sethu, Panaji; Disha Charitable Trust, Panaji; Mother Teresa Sisters', Panaji; Gujarati Samaj Educational Trust for Handicapped, Margao; Caritas, St Francis Xavier's Academy, Old Goa; Daddy's Home, Margao; Asha Deep, Vasco; Arz, Vasco; Chetana Charitable Trust, Curchorem; Navjot Rehabilitation, Thivim; Shanti Avedna Ashram, Loutolim; Nitya Seva Niketan, Rivona; Keshav Seva Sadhana's Narayan Zantye School for special children; Caritas Asro, Thivim; Jyot Society, Margao; Mother Mary Heaven, Calangute; Divine Providence, Benaulim; Indian Red Cross Society, Panaji; Lar Santa Margarita, Diwar; and Lar de Santa Teresa, Margao.

Clause (B): other institutions and NGOs. Institutions and NGOs not covered in that list are eligible for the grant subject to conditions.

Your institution can apply under clause (B) if:

• It submits an application for the grant in the prescribed proforma.
• It is registered with the State Government registration authorities.
• It has been in existence for a minimum period of 5 years.
• It has been providing humanitarian service to a minimum of 25 inmates, old, sick, or underprivileged children; for the last 5 years.
• It has infrastructure facilities of spacious accommodation of a minimum area of 50 square metres, with proper ventilation, toilet and kitchen.
• It furnishes a copy of the constitution or bye-laws of the institution.

Clause (C); enhanced grants. Institutions already covered may seek enhanced grants on specific proposals, considered case by case, provided the proposal is supported by proper documentation, stays restricted to the area of operations as per the approved constitution or bye-laws, and is specifically towards activities related to the upliftment of underprivileged children, the sick, the aged, the disabled and the destitute.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an individual in need — a child, an elderly person, a person with a disability or a family in distress. There is no personal benefit under this scheme; it funds institutions. Individuals should approach the Directorate of Social Welfare, which runs Goa's personal assistance schemes.
• Your organisation is not registered with the State Government registration authorities.
• Your organisation has been in existence for less than 5 years.
• Your organisation serves fewer than 25 inmates, or has served 25 inmates for less than the last 5 years.
• Your accommodation is under 50 square metres, or lacks proper ventilation, toilet or kitchen.
• Your enhanced-grant proposal falls outside the area of operations in your approved constitution or bye-laws.

How much does the scheme pay?

The Rs 1 crore is a total ceiling per case. The scheme states that the total grants in each case under the scheme shall not be more than Rs 1,00,00,000, so an institution that has already drawn Rs 25 lakh under clause (A) has that much less headroom under clause (C).

For clause (B) institutions the scheme does not fix a figure. The quantum is what the Selection Committee recommends and the Government approves, which means a well-documented proposal setting out actual costs does more work here than in a fixed-rate scheme.

What documents are required?

One drafting inconsistency is worth flagging. The scheme's own text states under "Prescribed form if any" that the institutions and NGOs shall submit an application as there is no prescribed form, while the requirement of documents speaks of a prescribed proforma. In practice, ask the ADC's office at the Directorate which format is currently in use before you prepare the file.

How to apply for the Mother Tereza grant-in-aid

1. Check which clause you fall under. If your institution is on the clause (A) list, grants are released directly as per the budget speech and you are not competing through an advertisement cycle. If not, you are applying under clause (B), or under clause (C) if you are seeking an enhanced grant on a specific proposal.
2. Watch the local newspapers for the Directorate's advertisement. The Directorate of Art and Culture invites applications from eligible institutions and NGOs through advertisements inserted in local newspapers for selection and release of grants under clauses 5(B) and 5(C).
3. Visit the Directorate of Art and Culture, 5th Floor, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa 403001, or contact the ADC's office, and obtain the current application proforma.
4. Assemble the five-year evidence. Registration certificate, annual reports, audited accounts and inmate records covering the last five years are the core of the file, because three of the six eligibility conditions are five-year tests.
5. Document the infrastructure. Measurements of the accommodation, and evidence of ventilation, toilet and kitchen facilities, against the 50 square metre minimum.
6. Attach a copy of the constitution or bye-laws, and, for an enhanced-grant proposal under clause (C), show explicitly that the proposed activity sits inside the area of operations that document permits.
7. Submit the completed and signed application with all documents to the ADC, Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, on 0832-2404642 or by email at adc-dac.goa@nic.in.

Who decides, and can the Government act on its own?

The Government constitutes a Selection Committee for the purpose of scrutiny of the proposals, selection, and recommendation for release of the one-time grant for institutions under clauses 5(B) and 5(C).

There is also a route that does not depend on an application at all. The Government of Goa, or the committee constituted by it, may suo motu take cognizance of the achievements of any eligible institution or NGO and consider them for the grant. An institution doing serious work that has never applied is therefore not entirely outside the scheme's reach, though relying on that is not a strategy.

For clause (A), the grants to institutions selected as per the budget speech are released directly.

Why do applications fail?

• The five-year tests are not met. Existence for five years and service to 25 inmates for the last five years are separate conditions, and both are checked.
• Fewer than 25 inmates. The threshold is specific, and a small home serving fifteen residents does not qualify however good the work.
• Accommodation under 50 square metres, or missing the ventilation, toilet or kitchen requirements.
• Registration not with the State Government registration authorities.
• Constitution or bye-laws not furnished, which is a listed requirement in its own right.
• Enhanced-grant proposal outside the constitutional area of operations. An institution registered for elder care cannot use clause (C) to fund an unrelated activity.
• Application filed outside the advertised window, where the Directorate has invited applications by newspaper advertisement.

Where do I complain?

The named contact for this scheme is the ADC, Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Goa, on 0832-2404642, email adc-dac.goa@nic.in. That office is the first point of contact for an institution whose application has not been acknowledged or whose sanctioned grant has not been released.

The Directorate's website is at artandculture.goa.gov.in, and the Government of Goa's public grievance route at goa.gov.in is the escalation path where the Directorate's response is unsatisfactory.

Practical points

• This is an institutional scheme, not a personal one. The most common misunderstanding is a family or an individual in hardship applying under it. The Directorate of Social Welfare is the right door for personal assistance in Goa.
• Keep the inmate register current. The 25-inmate, five-year condition is the hardest one to evidence retrospectively, and it is entirely a matter of records you either kept or did not.
• Clause (C) rewards specificity. Enhanced grants are considered on specific proposals with proper documentation, so a costed proposal for a defined activity is far stronger than a general request for support.
• Watch the ceiling. Rs 1 crore is the total across the scheme for any one case, not per application.
• Confirm the current status of the scheme before you invest effort. It came into force on 1 April 2011 as a Golden Jubilee scheme, and the Directorate's office is the right place to confirm the current year's position and the operative application format.

How to check your application status

This is not a portal-based scheme, so there is no online dashboard, tracking ID or SMS alert to check against. Status has to be followed up directly with the office that received the file.

1. Confirm the application actually reached the file. Since applications go in on paper to the ADC's office, keep the acknowledgement or the office copy stamped on submission. Without that, there is nothing to point to if the office says it has no record of the application.
2. Call or email the ADC, Directorate of Art and Culture. The number is 0832-2404642 and the email is adc-dac.goa@nic.in. Quote the institution's name, the date of submission and the clause applied under (B or C), since the office does not run a searchable case-number system.
3. Track the two real milestones, not a single "status". The first is whether the Selection Committee has taken up the proposal for scrutiny; the second, only for clause (B) or (C), is whether the Government has approved the amount the committee recommended. An institution can be told the committee has recommended a grant while the government approval, and the actual release, is still pending.
4. For clause (A) institutions, the question is release, not selection. These institutions are already named in the scheme, so following up means asking the ADC's office when the grant sanctioned as per the budget speech will be disbursed, not whether the application has been "selected".
5. Watch for the next advertisement cycle. If an application under clause (B) or (C) has gone in outside a currently open advertisement window, or after one has closed, it may sit until the Directorate next advertises for that clause. Asking the office whether the current cycle is still open is as useful as asking about a specific file.
6. Escalate through the Government of Goa's public grievance route at goa.gov.in if the ADC's office does not respond or gives no clear timeline, since there is no scheme-specific escalation channel beyond the Directorate itself.