Scheduled Castes Unsalaried Credit Co-operative Society and Credit and Supply Co-operative Scheme for Providing Managerial Assistance and Computer–Furniture to the Society

What is this scheme for Scheduled Caste credit co-operative societies?

The Scheduled Castes Unsalaried Credit Co-operative Society and Credit and Supply Co-operative Scheme for Providing Managerial Assistance and Computer–Furniture to the Society is a Scheduled Caste sub-plan scheme run through the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, under Gujarat's Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. It is a support scheme for institutions rather than for individuals: the beneficiary is a newly registered co-operative society whose members are all from Scheduled Castes.

According to the myScheme record maintained for the department, the scheme has two components:

The problem the scheme addresses is a familiar one in the co-operative sector. A newly registered savings and credit society begins with almost no capital and no income, yet it is expected to maintain books of account, meet audit requirements, service members' savings and lending, and file returns with the Registrar. Doing that properly requires at least one paid person and a working office. Societies that cannot afford either drift into non-compliance within two or three years and become dormant. Paying a manager's salary for the early period and funding a computer and furniture is a deliberately narrow, practical intervention against that failure.

The phrase unsalaried credit co-operative society in the title distinguishes these community-based societies from the "salary earners" credit societies formed inside a workplace, where members' salaries are the security for lending. Unsalaried societies are formed by people without regular salaried employment, which is why their early finances are so thin.

Key features

• Scheduled Caste sub-plan scheme of Gujarat's co-operation department.
• Managerial salary assistance up to Rs 8,000 a month for a newly registered society.
• One-time computer and furniture grant up to Rs 62,000.
• Membership of the society must be exclusively Scheduled Caste.
• Offline application to the District Registrar of Co-operative Societies.

Who is eligible for this scheme?

A society is eligible if:

• It is a Scheduled Caste savings and credit co-operative society, or a credit and supply co-operative society, registered in Gujarat under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961.
• It was registered within the last three financial years. The scheme is start-up support, so the registration date is checked first.
• Its membership consists exclusively of Scheduled Caste persons.
• It maintains books of account and can produce financial records for scrutiny.
• Its managing committee has resolved to appoint a manager and to apply for assistance.

Who is not eligible:

• Individuals cannot apply. No person receives managerial assistance or the computer grant personally. Scheduled Caste individuals looking for personal credit, subsidy or self-employment support should approach the Gujarat Scheduled Caste Development Corporation, whose schemes are listed on sje.gujarat.gov.in, rather than this scheme.
• Societies with mixed membership, even a small number of non-Scheduled Caste members takes the society outside the eligibility condition.
• Societies registered more than three financial years ago, which fall outside the start-up window.
• Salary earners' credit societies, which are a different class of society from the unsalaried societies this scheme is written for.
• Societies that are not functioning: one with no members' transactions and no accounts cannot support a managerial post.

What documents does a society need?

The District Registrar's office issues the operative checklist for the current year. Because the two components are sanctioned on different tests, the managerial component on the society's functioning, the equipment component on quotations and bills — it is worth confirming with that office whether both are being sanctioned in the current financial year before assembling the file.

How to apply for managerial and computer–furniture assistance

1. Pass a managing committee resolution approving the appointment of a manager, the purchase of a computer and furniture, and the making of this application.
2. Collect the registration certificate and confirm that the society's registration falls within the last three financial years.
3. Prepare the member list with caste certificates, showing that every member is from a Scheduled Caste.
4. Get written quotations for the computer and the office furniture, so the eligible amount can be fixed within the Rs 62,000 ceiling.
5. Attach the society's financial records; books of account, the latest audited statement and the society's bank account details.
6. Submit the plain-paper application with all these records to the District Registrar of Co-operative Societies for the district in which the society is registered. There is no online application route.
7. Respond to scrutiny queries, then act on the sanction order, which will state the amount and, for the managerial component, the period for which salary assistance is allowed.

How is the assistance paid?

Both components are paid into the society's own bank account, never to a member or to the manager personally. The computer and furniture grant is settled against actual bills within the Rs 62,000 ceiling, so a society that spends less receives less. Managerial salary assistance is released against the salary actually paid to the appointed manager, up to Rs 8,000 a month, and is limited to the period stated in the sanction. It is start-up support, not a permanent subsidy of the society's establishment cost.

How does a society check the status of its application?

Follow the application with the District Registrar of Co-operative Societies that received it, quoting the society's registration number and the date of submission. Where the file has been forwarded, the District Registrar's office can give the forwarding reference. The Registrar's website, rcs.gujarat.gov.in, publishes government resolutions, circulars and the directory of district and divisional offices, and revised scheme instructions appear there.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Registration outside the three-year window. This cannot be cured; the society must look at other co-operation department support instead.
• Membership not exclusively Scheduled Caste. Reconcile the member register with the caste certificates before applying.
• No audited accounts. Get the statutory audit completed. A society that has not been audited will not clear scrutiny.
• No quotations, so the equipment component cannot be costed.
• No manager appointed or no resolution on record, which leaves the managerial component with nothing to sanction against.
• Society bank account not operational, so assistance cannot be transferred.

Where to raise a grievance

Take the matter first to the District Registrar of Co-operative Societies, quoting the society's registration number. The next authority is the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Gujarat State, Gandhinagar, and above that the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. Office addresses and the list of divisional joint registrars are published on rcs.gujarat.gov.in.

No fee is payable to any person for processing an application under this scheme.