Assistance of Concentrate Feed After Parturition (Scheduled Caste Category)

What is the Assistance of Concentrate Feed After Parturition scheme?

The Assistance of Concentrate Feed After Parturition (Scheduled Caste Category) is a targeted nutrition-support scheme run by the Directorate of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department, Government of Gujarat. The scheme supplies 150 kg of BIS Type II concentrate cattle feed, free of cost, to a Scheduled Caste livestock owner for a milch animal that has just calved.

The scheme addresses a narrow but well-understood problem in dairy husbandry. The weeks immediately after parturition: calving, are the point at which a cow or buffalo is under the most nutritional stress. The animal is recovering from calving, producing colostrum and then milk at peak yield, and feeding a calf. A milch animal in this phase draws on body reserves faster than grazing and dry fodder can replace. Underfeeding at this stage lowers peak yield for the whole lactation, delays the animal's return to heat, and weakens the calf.

Concentrate feed, a compounded ration of grain, oilcake, bran and mineral mix, closes that gap. The Bureau of Indian Standards Type II grade specifies a higher protein and energy content than Type I, and is the grade intended for animals in milk. The Directorate of Animal Husbandry specifies the BIS grade so that a beneficiary receives a tested compounded ration rather than unspecified loose feed.

Key objectives

• Protect the health of the milch animal in the critical month after calving.
• Sustain peak milk yield for the full lactation rather than losing it to post-calving underfeeding.
• Improve calf survival and growth.
• Raise dairy income specifically for Scheduled Caste households, for whom one or two animals often represent the main cash income of the family.

Main features

• Benefit delivered as 150 kg of physical feed, not as cash.
• Restricted to the Scheduled Caste category as a special component plan.
• 100% state-funded; the beneficiary pays nothing for the feed.
• Applied for on the iKhedut single-window portal, in the Animal Husbandry section rather than the Agriculture section.

Who is eligible for the concentrate feed assistance?

You are eligible if:

• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You belong to the Scheduled Caste category and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You own a milch animal — a cow or buffalo, that has calved recently.
• You can identify the animal, normally by ear tag number, dairy cooperative record or a veterinary record.
• You have an Aadhaar number and a bank account for the beneficiary record.

You cannot apply if:

• You belong to the general, OBC, SEBC or Scheduled Tribe category. Those categories are not eligible under this particular component; the Directorate runs separate feed and dairy components for them.
• You do not own the animal, a hired or shared animal does not qualify.
• Your animal has not calved, or the calving falls outside the period the scheme covers.
• You have already drawn the same assistance in the current round.
• You cannot produce a Scheduled Caste certificate.

Small dairy households in Gujarat commonly hold their animals through a village milk cooperative. Membership of a dudh mandali is not itself an eligibility condition, but the cooperative's pouring record is one of the easiest ways to prove that the animal is yours and in milk.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the concentrate feed scheme

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in during a period when the Animal Husbandry scheme window is open. iKhedut opens each department's schemes in defined windows, not year round.
2. Select Schemes, then the Animal Husbandry schemes list (Pashupalan ni Yojanao), and find the concentrate feed after parturition entry for the Scheduled Caste category.
3. Choose registered or not registered applicant. A first-time applicant selects "not registered" and completes the applicant registration.
4. Fill in your Aadhaar number, mobile number, district, taluka, village, caste category, animal details and bank account details.
5. Confirm and submit the application, and note the application number shown on screen. The form cannot be edited after confirmation.
6. Print the submitted application and sign it.
7. Submit the printed application with self-attested copies of your documents to the taluka or district animal husbandry office, or to your veterinary dispensary, within the period the portal states.
8. After verification, the department or its approved supplier issues the 150 kg of BIS Type II concentrate feed to you.

How to apply if you cannot use the portal

1. Visit your village e-Gram centre or Village Computer Entrepreneur, who files iKhedut applications for livestock owners during open windows.
2. Alternatively ask at the veterinary dispensary or taluka animal husbandry office, where staff routinely help beneficiaries file the form.
3. Carry your Aadhaar card, caste certificate, bank passbook and the animal's tag or dairy society record; the form cannot be completed without them.

What exactly does the beneficiary receive?

The beneficiary receives 150 kilograms of BIS Type II concentrate cattle feed free of cost, intended for the animal during the post-calving period. At a typical supplementary feeding rate of around 4 to 5 kg a day for an animal in early lactation, 150 kg supports roughly a month of concentrate feeding, which matches the scheme's design of covering the critical month after parturition.

The benefit is delivered in kind. There is no fixed rupee amount published for the beneficiary, because the department procures the feed and the market price of compounded cattle feed varies through the year. Beneficiaries should not expect a cash credit against this component; if a supplier voucher route is used in a given year, the district animal husbandry office will explain it.

How to check your application status

1. Open the Application Status page on ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.
2. Enter your application number and the verifying detail asked for.
3. The screen shows whether the application is submitted, under verification at the taluka, approved, or completed.
4. For delivery of the physical feed, follow up directly with the veterinary officer or the taluka animal husbandry office quoting the application number; portal status alone does not tell you when the feed is available for collection.

Common reasons applications are rejected

• Printed application not submitted to the animal husbandry office after filing online. This is the most frequent reason a valid claim fails.
• Caste certificate missing, expired or issued by a non-competent authority.
• Animal cannot be identified because there is no ear tag, dairy society record or veterinary entry.
• Calving date outside the covered period, so the animal is no longer in the post-parturition phase the scheme targets.
• Duplicate claim for the same animal or the same household in one round.
• Target for the district exhausted, since the component carries a limited physical target of animals per district each year.

Key dates and grievance route

The Directorate of Animal Husbandry opens its iKhedut windows financial year by financial year, and does not publish a standing year-round deadline for this component. Livestock owners should watch the iKhedut home page and ask at the village veterinary dispensary, which is usually told in advance when the animal husbandry window opens.

For grievances, approach the veterinary officer at your dispensary first, then the Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry at the district level, and then the Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Gandhinagar, whose scheme pages and district office contacts are published at doah.gujarat.gov.in. Applying is free, and no agent may charge a fee to include your name in the beneficiary list.