Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana

What is Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana?

Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana is the animal husbandry credit scheme of the Gujarat Gopalak Development Corporation (GGDC), a corporation under the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Gujarat. The corporation was created by government resolution to serve the Rabari and Bharwad communities; pastoral communities traditionally engaged in cattle rearing, herding and the milk trade, and to help them achieve, in the department's words, social and educational advancement.

The scheme's logic is straightforward. A Rabari or Bharwad household that already knows how to keep animals is usually held back not by skill but by capital: the cost of buying a good milch animal and building a shed. Commercial credit at market rates makes that hard to service on a milk income. Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana lends the money at a subsidised rate set by the state.

Loan amounts currently published by the corporation in its scheme and documents annexure (Parishisht) are:

Interest rate. According to the corporation's own online portal, direct financing carries an annual rate of 5% for men and 4% for women. Educational loans of the same corporation are cheaper still, at 4% for male and 3.5% for female students.

A note on figures, because a reader will find two versions. The national myScheme portal lists Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana with a loan of up to Rs 1,30,000, a 95% loan and 5% beneficiary contribution split, an age band of 21 to 45 and an income ceiling of Rs 3,00,000. The corporation's own current annexure gives the higher amounts, the 21 to 50 age band and the Rs 5.00 lakh income ceiling shown above. Where the two differ, the corporation's own site is the authority, and applicants should confirm the operative figures at ggdconline.gujarat.gov.in before filing.

Who is eligible for Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana?

You can take the loan if:

• You belong to the Rabari or Bharwad community, classified among the socially and educationally backward classes served by this corporation.
• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You are between 21 and 50 years of age.
• Your family annual income does not exceed Rs 5.00 lakh, certified by the competent authority.
• You are engaged in, or intend to take up, animal husbandry.
• You hold a bank account in your own name.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You belong to a community outside the corporation's mandate. Other Gujarat corporations under the same department serve other groups. The Scheduled Caste Development Corporation, the Backward Class Development Corporation, the Thakor and Koli Development Corporation, the Minority Finance and Development Corporation, the Nomadic and Denotified Tribes Development Corporation and the Sanitation Workers Development Corporation each run their own loan schemes.
• Your family income exceeds the corporation's ceiling.
• You are under 21 or over 50.
• You live outside Gujarat.
• You are an existing defaulter on a corporation loan. Fresh finance for additional animals is explicitly conditioned on regular repayment of the earlier loan.
• You do not confirm the online application. The corporation states plainly that an application is treated as accepted only after the Confirm step.

What documents are required?

The corporation's annexure specifically allows a medical officer's age document in place of a school leaving certificate where the applicant is illiterate, a practical provision for older pastoral applicants who never enrolled in school.

How to apply for Pashupalan Dhiran Yojana online

1. Open ggdconline.gujarat.gov.in, the Gujarat Gopalak Development Corporation's online financing portal, and register or log in.
2. Choose Apply Online and select the Pashupalan (animal husbandry) scheme, then fill in personal details, community, age, family income and the loan purpose — two animals, or four animals with a cattle shed.
3. Use Upload Photo / Signature to attach your passport-size photograph and signature, then Upload Document to attach the income certificate, caste certificate, Aadhaar, ration card, age proof and bank passbook.
4. Review the entries using Edit Application if anything needs correcting.
5. Open Confirm Application and confirm. Until you do this, the corporation does not treat the application as submitted.
6. Use Print Application to take a printout of the confirmed application and submit the signed copy with self-attested document photocopies to the corporation's district office when asked.
7. Track the file under Application Status; if you have lost the number, use Know Application Number on the same portal.

How do I apply if I cannot use the portal myself?

Take your documents to the district office of the Gujarat Gopalak Development Corporation or the district Social Justice and Empowerment office and ask for help filing the online form, the corporation runs a single online channel, so paperwork submitted only over the counter will not create an application record. The corporation's head office is at Block 7, 3rd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, contactable on 079-23256494. The administrative helpline is answered on working days between 10:30 am and 2:00 pm and again between 2:30 pm and 6:10 pm.

How is the loan repaid?

The loan carries a fixed subsidised interest rate to 5% a year for men, 4% for women on direct financing, and is repaid to the corporation in instalments from the borrower's milk or livestock income. Regular repayment matters beyond avoiding default: the corporation's own annexure makes additional finance of Rs 2,60,000 for further animals conditional on regular repayment of the earlier loan. A borrower who services the first loan on time therefore has a defined path to scaling the herd.

Why do applications get rejected, and how do I fix it?

• Application never confirmed. The corporation's portal states that only confirmed applications are accepted. Log back in and complete Confirm.
• Income certificate above the ceiling, or an expired certificate. Get a fresh certificate from the Mamlatdar's office.
• Caste certificate missing or not in the applicant's name. The scheme is restricted to Rabari and Bharwad applicants and the certificate is the only accepted proof.
• Age outside the 21-50 band, or an age proof that contradicts the form.
• Documents uploaded illegibly. Aadhaar and ration card must be uploaded with both sides readable.
• Bank account in another name, or an account that cannot receive the disbursement.
• Existing default with the corporation.

Where do I complain if my loan file is stuck?

Start with the district office of the Gujarat Gopalak Development Corporation, quoting your application number from the portal. Escalate to the corporation's head office on 079-23256494 at Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar. Above the corporation sits the Social Justice and Empowerment Department at sje.gujarat.gov.in, Block 5, 8th Floor, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, which oversees all the state's community development corporations and publishes their scheme pages and beneficiary lists.