HARIHAR Scheme (Homeless, Abandoned and Surrendered Children Rehabilitation Initiative Haryana)

What is the HARIHAR Scheme?

HARIHAR. The Homeless, Abandoned and Surrendered Children Rehabilitation Initiative Haryana: is a policy of the Women and Child Development Department, Haryana, framed by the Governor of Haryana and notified on 20 July 2021 under number 111-SW (3). HARIHAR provides educational, financial and employment benefits to abandoned and surrendered children who have completed the age of 18 years in a Child Care Institution of the state. Readers who search for it as the "Harihar Yojana" or "Harihar policy Haryana" are looking at the same notification.

HARIHAR replaced the earlier Jyotirgamaya policy, notified vide no. 449-SW (3) dated 30 May 2013, and came into force from the date of issue of the 2021 notification. Women and Child Development is the nodal department, but the scheme is delivered jointly with the School Education, Higher Education, Technical Education, Skill Development and Industrial Training, Social Justice and Empowerment and General Administration departments, each of which issues its own implementing notification.

The policy addresses a specific gap. A child who grows up inside a Children Home or Specialized Adoption Agency has no family to fall back on at 18, which is the age at which institutional care legally ends. HARIHAR extends state support for another seven years, to the age of 25 or marriage, whichever is earlier.

Two stated objectives of the notification

1. Free school and higher education, including technical education, skill development and industrial training, plus aftercare stay, rehabilitation and financial assistance up to the age of 25 years or marriage, along with a one-time interest-free loan for buying a house in Haryana at the time of marriage.
2. Jobs on compassionate grounds and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) status, up to the age of 25 years, for those who possess the required qualification.

Who is eligible for the HARIHAR Scheme?

HARIHAR eligibility is narrow and is defined by the age at which the person entered institutional care, not by poverty or by caste.

You are covered if all of these are true:

• You were admitted to a Haryana Child Care Institution before the age of 5 years as an "Abandoned" child, or before the age of 1 year as a "Surrendered" child.
• The Child Welfare Committee declared you abandoned or surrendered after due inquiry, under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 or 2015, or the rules in force at the time.
• You completed the age of 18 years while living in the Child Care Institution.
• You have not yet completed 25 years and, for aftercare purposes, have not married.

The notification defines an "Abandoned" child as one found abandoned whose parents, guardians or relatives could not be traced despite due inquiry. A "Surrendered" child is one relinquished by parents or a guardian to the Child Welfare Committee because of physical, emotional and social factors beyond their control. "Child Care Institutions" means Children Homes and Specialized Adoption Agencies established or maintained in every district or group of districts by the state government, directly or through a voluntary or non-governmental organisation, and registered under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

You are not eligible if:

• You were abandoned or surrendered after the cut-off ages, for example admitted to a Child Care Institution at age 6 as an abandoned child. The department's FAQ answers this case explicitly and says such a person cannot apply.
• You left or were released from the institution before turning 18. The FAQ states that only a person who completed 18 years while living in a Child Care Institution can avail the benefit.
• You are an orphan who was raised outside institutional care, by relatives or a guardian. HARIHAR is not a general orphan scheme.
• You have already crossed the age of 25, or have married, for the aftercare and financial assistance components.
• You have already taken the compassionate job and EWS benefit once, the notification says the beneficiary can avail EWS status and a job on compassionate ground only once.

What benefits does the HARIHAR Scheme give?

1. Free education and training. Beneficiaries up to age 25 get free school and higher education, including technical education, skill development and industrial training, along with hostel facilities in government and government-aided institutions. The relevant education departments issue their own notifications and rules to implement this.

2. Aftercare stay and rehabilitation. The Deputy Commissioner arranges boarding, lodging and other aftercare facilities in the district, in an educational hostel, a government guest house or any other suitable institution.

3. Monthly financial assistance. Aftercare beneficiaries who have not been appointed to a job receive financial assistance for rehabilitation equivalent to the Social Security Pension (Disability Pension) of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, at the rate notified from time to time by the state government. HARIHAR itself fixes no rupee figure, so the amount tracks whatever the Haryana disability pension rate is in that year.

4. Job on compassionate grounds with EWS status. Beneficiaries up to age 25 who meet the basic educational qualification are proposed for jobs on compassionate grounds in Group "C" and Group "D" posts, together with Economically Weaker Section status under the Haryana Government, on the recommendation of the District Approval Committee. The General Administration Department implements this, monitored by Women and Child Development.

5. Salary held in fixed deposit, with a 20 per cent advance. If a beneficiary in aftercare gets a job on compassionate grounds, the salary is deposited into a Fixed Deposit account. Withdrawal is allowed on attaining 25 years, on marriage, or on opting out of aftercare, whichever is earlier. Until then the person may draw up to 20 per cent of their own monthly salary as an advance for living expenses, and stops being eligible for the monthly financial assistance.

6. One-time interest-free housing loan. At the time of marriage, beneficiaries get a one-time interest-free loan from a nationalised bank to buy a house in Haryana State. Women and Child Development provides this along with the aftercare benefits.

Who runs and approves HARIHAR cases?

The Deputy Commissioner of the district is designated the Patron for abandoned and surrendered beneficiaries and is responsible for their aftercare and rehabilitation up to age 25. The notification also makes the Deputy Commissioner act as guardian, and permits him to perform the wedding rituals (kanyadaan) at a beneficiary's marriage.

Approval rests with the District Approval Committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner and consisting of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, District Programme Officer, District Social Welfare Officer and District Child Protection Officer.

How to apply for the HARIHAR Scheme

HARIHAR has no online form. The route depends on where you are living now.

1. If you still live in a Child Care Institution, the In-charge of the Child Care Institution puts up your case to the District Child Protection Unit, along with an undertaking that all eligible cases have been taken up. The District Programme Officer is responsible for ensuring this happens, so you do not have to file anything yourself, but ask the in-charge in writing to confirm your case has been sent.
2. If you have already left the institution and are living outside, apply directly to the District Programme Officer of the district where your Child Care Institution was located. Attach proof of residence in the Child Care Institution, your educational qualification certificates and a domicile certificate.
3. Verification. The District Programme Officer conducts an inquiry and verifies your case, taking the assistance of the police and other agencies as required.
4. Submission to the District Approval Committee. The District Programme Officer and District Child Protection Officer scrutinise the records and submit the case to the District Approval Committee.
5. Collect your certificate. After the committee approves, the District Programme Officer issues you a Certificate of being Abandoned or Surrendered. This certificate is the document you use to claim free education, aftercare, EWS status and the rest.
6. For a job, the District Approval Committee recommends approved cases to the Women and Child Development Department, which forwards them to the Chief Secretary, General Administration Department, for implementation.

How do I check the status of a HARIHAR application?

HARIHAR status is tracked offline, through the office that holds your file. Ask the District Programme Officer of the district where your Child Care Institution was located, since that office runs the inquiry and later issues the certificate. If your case originated inside an institution, the District Child Protection Unit and the institution's in-charge will know whether it has been forwarded. Once the file reaches the District Approval Committee, the committee is required to maintain detailed proceedings of scrutiny and the whole record of proposed beneficiaries along with its decision and reasons, so you can ask for the outcome and the reason in writing.

Why do HARIHAR applications get rejected?

The notification says plainly that ineligible cases will be rejected with valid reasons. The most common reasons follow directly from the eligibility definitions:

• Admission age outside the limit — admitted to the Child Care Institution at or after 5 years as abandoned, or at or after 1 year as surrendered.
• Left the institution before 18, so the person did not complete 18 years while living in a Child Care Institution.
• No Child Welfare Committee declaration of abandoned or surrendered status on record.
• Age above 25 or already married, which ends aftercare and financial assistance.
• Records incomplete: missing institutional admission record, domicile certificate or qualification certificate, which stalls the District Programme Officer's inquiry.
• Benefit already availed, EWS status and the compassionate job can be taken only once.

Fixing most of these means going back to the Child Care Institution's records and the Child Welfare Committee file, since the date of admission and the declaration order are the two facts that decide the case.

What are the key dates for the HARIHAR Scheme?

• 20 July 2021; HARIHAR policy notified at Chandigarh by the Commissioner and Secretary to Government Haryana, Women and Child Development Department.
• 22 July 2021; endorsement no. 111-SW (3) circulating the notification to all Deputy Commissioners, District Programme Officers, District Child Protection Officers, Child Welfare Committee chairpersons and the Haryana State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
• 30 May 2013, the date of the Jyotirgamaya policy that HARIHAR substitutes.

There is no application window. Eligibility is triggered by turning 18 in a Child Care Institution and ends at 25 or on marriage, so the practical deadline is personal rather than calendar-based: apply as soon after your 18th birthday as possible, because every year lost is a year of the seven-year support window gone.

Where do I raise a HARIHAR grievance?

Complaints or grievances about the grant of abandoned or surrendered status go to an Appellate Authority, a committee chaired by the Administrative Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, Haryana, and consisting of the Director General, the Joint Director (Administration), the Joint Director (ICPS) and the Assistant District Attorney of the department.

For day-to-day problems, the first point of contact is the District Programme Officer or the District Child Protection Officer of your district. Haryana also runs the Childline number 1098 for children in need of care and protection and the Women Helpline 181, both listed on the WCD Haryana portal, though neither is a HARIHAR-specific helpline.

No fee is payable at any stage of a HARIHAR application. The certificate of being abandoned or surrendered is issued by a government officer after committee approval, and no agent can obtain it for you.