Nalanda Award

What is the Nalanda Award?

Nalanda Award is a state honour of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat, administered by the Director, Developing Castes Welfare at Gandhinagar. It carries Rs 1,00,000 and is given to a voluntary organisation that has made a distinctive contribution in the field of social welfare for socially and educationally backward classes and other weaker sections of society.

The award: locally called the Nalanda Award or Nalanda Puraskar; is paired with the Pujya Ravishankar Maharaj Award, also of Rs 1,00,000, which honours an individual rather than an organisation. The individual award recognises work that secures social justice and human rights for these communities, spreads awareness among backward classes, instils higher values, and brings people out of customary practices into educational, economic and social parity with the rest of society.

According to the department's award advertisement, both schemes rest on Social Justice and Empowerment Department resolutions dated 21 December 2004, numbered SSP/1103/NBA-7/A and SSP/1103/NBA-2/A, which fix the other conditions, criteria and the categories of persons who may recommend a candidate.

Who is eligible for the Nalanda Award?

An organisation can apply if:

• It is a voluntary organisation working for socially and educationally backward classes and weaker sections of society.
• Its contribution over the last 10 years to the upliftment of these communities is the work being put forward.
• The work is noteworthy at first sight and covers social, educational and economic development activities, including work that brings out the latent strengths of these communities.
• The contribution is spread over a wide canvas and a sufficient period, such that a broad community has benefited over the long term.
• It can produce registration papers, a certified copy of its constitution, and audited accounts for the last three years.

An applicant is not eligible, or cannot apply, if:

• The applicant is an individual. Individuals are considered for the separate Pujya Ravishankar Maharaj Award, not for the Nalanda Award.
• The contribution is confined to one particular place, time, community, activity or event. The advertisement states this exclusion in terms.
• The organisation cannot show sustained work over a meaningful period, which makes a very newly formed body a weak candidate against a ten-year assessment window.
• The application arrives after the closing date in the advertisement. The 2022 call stated plainly that applications received after the deadline would not be considered under any circumstances.

What does the award actually give?

The Nalanda Award gives Rs 1,00,000 to the selected organisation, together with state recognition. It is an honour rather than a running grant: there is no recurring assistance, no project funding component and no entitlement attached to winning it. The value for most organisations lies in the recognition, which the department frames as encouraging continued work and highlighting practices worth replicating elsewhere in Gujarat.

Awards are announced for specific award years. The advertisement issued in April 2022 invited proposals for four years at once — 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, with a separate call having been issued earlier for 2021-22. An applicant must therefore state clearly which award year the proposal relates to.

What does the application form ask for?

The Nalanda Award form, published by the Director, Developing Castes Welfare, asks an organisation for:

• Full name of the organisation.
• Correspondence address and telephone number.
• Registration number and date, with a copy of the registration and a certified copy of the constitution enclosed.
• Name, address and telephone number of the manager or administrator.
• Caste or sub-caste and educational qualification of the manager or administrator.
• The field of social welfare in which the organisation has made a distinctive contribution, assessed on the last ten years of work for socially and educationally backward classes and weaker sections.
• The organisation's activities.
• Achievements, awards, honours and certificates received in the last ten years, with documentary evidence attached.
• Whether the organisation has applied for an award before, for which award and in which year.
• Whether it has received an award before, with years.
• Whether the accounts of the last three years have been audited, with audit reports enclosed.
• Details of the eminent persons recommending the organisation, submitted with supporting material.
• Any special remarks.

The form is signed and stamped by the president of the organisation, with place and date, and every detail entered must be backed by a certified copy of the supporting evidence.

How to apply for the Nalanda Award

1. Watch for the departmental advertisement. Gujarat invites proposals through a published advertisement of the Director, Developing Castes Welfare. Announcements appear on the eSamajKalyan portal and on the department's site at sje.gujarat.gov.in/ddcw/.
2. Collect the application form. Forms are available on the eSamajKalyan portal, on the department's website, and from the district office of the Deputy Director (Developing Castes) or the District Social Welfare Officer (Developing Castes).
3. Fill the form and state the award year. Complete every field, and mark clearly which year the proposal is being made for. A single advertisement can cover several award years.
4. Attach the evidence. Enclose the registration copy and certified constitution, audited accounts for the last three years, records of activities and achievements of the last ten years, and the recommendations from eminent persons.
5. Submit within the deadline. Under the 2022 advertisement, the application with supporting evidence had to reach the Director, Developing Castes Welfare, Block No. 4, 3rd Floor, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, either by registered post with acknowledgement due or in person, by 30 April 2022. Applications received after the stated date were not entertained.
6. Where the online route is open, apply on eSamajKalyan. Register on the eSamajKalyan portal, log in, read the scheme details, confirm the address, upload the relevant documents, submit, and save the application number and printout.

How to check your application status

Applications submitted online on the eSamajKalyan portal can be tracked with the application number generated at submission, using the portal's application status option. For an offline submission, the registered post acknowledgement is the only proof of delivery you will hold, so send it by RPAD as the advertisement directs and keep the receipt. For anything further, contact the district Deputy Director (Developing Castes) or the District Social Welfare Officer (Developing Castes) who supplied the form.

Common reasons an application fails

• Sent after the closing date. The advertisement is unambiguous that late applications are not considered.
• The award year is not stated, in a call covering several years.
• Audited accounts for the last three years are missing.
• Claims without evidence. Every achievement and recommendation must be backed by a certified copy.
• The work is narrow. A contribution limited to a single place, event or community does not meet the stated standard of broad, long-term benefit.
• An individual applies for the Nalanda Award instead of the Pujya Ravishankar Maharaj Award.

Help and grievance redressal

Contact the Director, Developing Castes Welfare, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Block No. 4, 3rd Floor, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, which issues the advertisement and receives the applications. At district level, the Deputy Director (Developing Castes) and the District Social Welfare Officer (Developing Castes) hold the forms and can explain the criteria. Notifications, forms and past advertisements are published on the eSamajKalyan portal at esamajkalyan.gujarat.gov.in and on sje.gujarat.gov.in/ddcw/. This guide does not list a helpline number because Gujarat has not published a dedicated line for the award. There is no fee for applying, and no intermediary can secure the award.