Stipend Scheme for Scheduled Tribes — Poultry Training Stipend

What is the Poultry Training Stipend for Scheduled Tribes?

Stipend Scheme for Scheduled Tribes, Poultry Training Stipend is a small, practical scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, delivered through the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and applied for on the iKhedut portal.

The scheme does two things at once. It gives a Scheduled Tribe adult a free six-day training in scientific poultry farming at a government training centre, and it pays a stipend of up to Rs 2,000 so that attending the training does not cost the trainee six days of wages and a bus fare.

The stipend breakdown published for the scheme is:

• Rs 300 per day as a daily allowance, for 6 days; Rs 1,800.
• Rs 200 towards to-and-fro travel fare.
• Total: Rs 2,000, paid directly into the trainee's bank account.

The design point is worth stating plainly. Backyard poultry is one of the quickest income additions available to a tribal household in Gujarat's eastern belt, because it needs very little land and very little capital. What it does need is knowledge; brooding, vaccination schedules, feed, housing and disease control, and that knowledge is what the six days deliver. The stipend exists because a daily-wage household cannot afford to attend otherwise.

Who is eligible for the poultry training stipend?

You can apply if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Tribe notified in Gujarat and hold a valid ST caste certificate.
• You are 18 years of age or above.
• You are residing in Gujarat.
• You intend to take up or expand poultry farming as a livelihood.
• You hold a bank account in your own name that can receive direct benefit transfer.

Priority in selection is given to women applicants and to applicants from BPL families, since the number of seats in each training batch is limited.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not from a Scheduled Tribe. This is a tribal sub-plan component and no relaxation is available. Scheduled Caste applicants should look at the parallel stipend attached to the SC poultry unit schemes.
• You are below 18 years of age.
• You are not a resident of Gujarat.
• You have already taken the same training and stipend. The benefit is meant to be availed once; repeat claims are rejected at verification.
• You have no bank account in your own name, because the stipend is paid only by DBT and cannot be paid in cash or into someone else's account.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the poultry training stipend

1. Open the iKhedut portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and go to the schemes section for Animal Husbandry. The poultry training stipend component appears only while its application window is open, so check the portal early in the season.
2. Select the poultry training stipend component for Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries and read the conditions displayed on the component page.
3. Choose your applicant status: registered iKhedut applicant or new applicant. New applicants complete a short registration with Aadhaar and personal details first.
4. Fill the application form with your name, village, taluka, district, caste category, age, mobile number, and bank account number with IFSC exactly as printed in your passbook.
5. Submit the application and note the application number, then use the portal's confirm option. An application that is submitted but never confirmed does not enter the queue.
6. Print the confirmed application, sign it, attach self-attested copies of the ST certificate, Aadhaar, bank passbook, age proof and residence proof, and submit it to the taluka or district animal husbandry office or the office named on the printout.
7. Attend the training batch on the dates given in your call letter. Sign the attendance register every day, because attendance across all six days is what triggers the stipend.
8. Collect your training certificate on the last day and keep it safely — it is often required when you later apply for a poultry unit subsidy.

How to check your application and stipend status

Use the application status option on ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in with your application number. The stages are submitted, confirmed, received at the office, selected for a batch, training completed, and stipend released. Two checks are worth doing yourself. First, confirm that the online application was actually confirmed and that the printed copy was delivered, this is where most applications quietly stop. Second, if the training is complete but no money has arrived after a few weeks, take your attendance record and passbook to the taluka animal husbandry office, because the usual cause is a bank account mismatch rather than a rejection.

For animal husbandry queries generally, Gujarat operates the 1962 animal helpline for veterinary services, which can also direct you to the right local office.

Why applications get rejected

• ST certificate missing or not from a Gujarat authority.
• Application not confirmed on iKhedut after submission.
• Printed application never delivered to the taluka or district office.
• Bank account in a relative's name, so the DBT cannot be made.
• Under 18 at the time of application.
• Incomplete attendance. A trainee who attends four of the six days does not get the full stipend.
• Batch already full, since seats are limited and priority goes to women and BPL applicants.
• Duplicate claim by someone who has already been trained under the scheme.

What the training leads to

The six-day course is a stepping stone rather than an end in itself. Gujarat runs separate subsidy schemes for establishing poultry units, for example assistance for a backyard unit of 25 birds of improved breeds such as Rhode Island Red or Kadaknath, and assistance for broiler units. Those schemes are also applied for on iKhedut, and a completed poultry training certificate strengthens or, for some components, is required in that application. If your plan is to build a small poultry business rather than to attend a course, apply for the training first and the unit subsidy in the following window.

Help and grievance redressal

• Taluka or district animal husbandry office, for application status, batch allotment and stipend payment.
• Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Gujarat; doah.gujarat.gov.in, for scheme details and district office contacts.
• iKhedut portal, ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in, for online application problems.
• 1962 animal helpline, for veterinary and animal husbandry guidance.
• Tribal Development Department, Block No. 2, 5th Floor, New Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar to 079-23257703, for ST-related grievances.

The training is free and the stipend is a government payment made directly to your account. No trainer, officer or middleman is entitled to a share of the Rs 2,000 or a fee for enrolling you.