Scheme for Providing Employment Opportunities to Scheduled Castes by Establishing Livestock Units

What is the Scheme for Providing Employment Opportunities to Scheduled Castes by Establishing Livestock Units?

The Scheme for Providing Employment Opportunities to Scheduled Castes by Establishing Livestock Units is a self-employment scheme of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of Haryana. The scheme's purpose is to put a productive income-earning asset: milch animals, pigs, or sheep and goats; into the hands of Scheduled Caste families in Haryana by paying a large share of the animal cost as an outright capital subsidy on top of a bank loan.

According to the department's published scheme list, the scheme covers three different unit types with three different subsidy rates:

The 90 per cent rate on a sheep or goat unit is the highest subsidy rate the department offers on any livestock unit, and it exists specifically because small ruminant rearing needs the least land and the least working capital, which makes it the most realistic starting point for a landless family.

Main features

• Reserved entirely for Scheduled Caste families in Haryana.
• Credit-linked: the beneficiary takes a bank loan, and the department's subsidy is released against it.
• Animal costs are not left to the seller. They follow the price fixed by NABARD, which protects the beneficiary from being overcharged.
• The department runs an 11-day dairy husbandry training at sub-division and district level for beneficiaries setting up dairy units.
• Applications are routed through the Antyodaya SARAL portal.

The scheme sits alongside two related departmental schemes. The Scheme for Establishment of Hi-Tech and Mini Dairy Units gives 25 per cent subsidy on animals for 4 to 10 animal dairy units and interest subvention for 20 to 50 animal units. The Scheme for Providing Employment Opportunities by Establishment of Piggery, Sheep and Goat Units - General gives 25 per cent subsidy, up to Rs 25,000 for a piggery unit and Rs 24,500 for a sheep or goat unit, to applicants outside the Scheduled Caste category.

Who is eligible for the SC livestock units scheme?

You qualify if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste and hold a valid caste certificate issued in Haryana.
• You are an unemployed resident of Haryana, generally in the 18 to 55 years age band as stated by the department for this scheme.
• You have suitable space or a shed where the animals can be kept and cared for.
• You have a Parivar Pehchan Patra with verified family details, and a bank account in your own name.
• You are able to get a bank loan sanctioned for the unit, since the subsidy is credit-linked.

The department's scheme document adds that farmers within Haryana and farmers of Haryana residing outside Haryana can both avail benefit under its schemes.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste. General category applicants must use the separate general piggery and sheep or goat scheme at 25 per cent subsidy.
• You are not a resident of Haryana and have no Haryana land or family record.
• You have no space or shed to house the animals, since the field officer checks this before sanction.
• You are a defaulter on an earlier bank loan, which will normally block the fresh loan the subsidy is tied to.
• You want a unit size other than the sanctioned one. The subsidy is defined for a 2 or 3 animal dairy unit, a 10+1 piggery unit and a 15+1 sheep or goat unit.
• You have already drawn a subsidy for the same unit under another departmental livestock scheme.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the SC livestock units scheme

1. Open the Antyodaya SARAL portal at saralharyana.gov.in and register yourself using your mobile number, authenticated with an OTP, which is the route the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying prescribes for its schemes.
2. Log in and fill in your general details — Parivar Pehchan Patra ID or Aadhaar number and bank account details.
3. Search for the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and select the Scheme for Providing Employment Opportunities to Scheduled Castes by Establishing Livestock Units, then choose the unit you want: dairy, piggery, or sheep and goat.
4. Upload the supporting documents; Scheduled Caste certificate, Aadhaar, residence proof and bank details, and submit the application.
5. Save the SARAL reference ID shown on screen. Every Haryana SARAL application can be tracked with this ID.
6. Attend the field verification by the Veterinary Surgeon or the Deputy Director Animal Husbandry's staff, who confirm your space or shed and your eligibility.
7. Complete the bank loan formalities at the financing bank once the department forwards your case, and buy the animals at the NABARD-fixed price. The subsidy is then released against the loan account.

How to apply offline

1. Visit your nearest Antyodaya SARAL Kendra or Common Service Centre with your Scheduled Caste certificate, Family ID, Aadhaar, residence proof and bank passbook and ask the operator to file the SARAL application for you.
2. Alternatively, meet the Deputy Director Animal Husbandry at your district office, who is named in the departmental scheme document as the local contact, or the Veterinary Surgeon at your nearest government veterinary hospital or dispensary.
3. Collect the acknowledgement carrying your application reference number.

How to check your application status

1. Log in to saralharyana.gov.in with the mobile number you registered with.
2. Open Track Application Status and enter your SARAL reference ID.
3. If you applied through a SARAL Kendra, use the ID on the acknowledgement slip handed to you at the counter.
4. For scheme or service queries, call 0172-3968400 between 8 am and 8 pm, Monday to Saturday, the number the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying publishes for its schemes.

Why applications get rejected, and how to avoid it

• Caste certificate not attached or not valid in Haryana. The subsidy rates in this scheme exist only for Scheduled Caste applicants; without a valid certificate the case falls to the general scheme at 25 per cent.
• Family income or details in the Parivar Pehchan Patra are wrong or stale. Get the PPP corrected at a SARAL Kendra before applying, since the department reads the verified record rather than a fresh declaration.
• No shed or space for the animals. Field verification checks this, and a case with nowhere to keep 16 sheep will not clear.
• Loan not sanctioned by the bank. The subsidy is credit-linked, so a refusal by the bank stops the case even after departmental approval. Existing loan defaults are the usual cause.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the release.
• Unit size does not match the sanctioned pattern, for example asking for 5 milch animals under a scheme written for 2 or 3.
• Annual district target exhausted. Sanctions run against a yearly physical target per district, so a late application may be carried to the next financial year.

Grievance and help

• Scheme and service helpline: 0172-3968400, 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday.
• Antyodaya SARAL helpline: 1800-2000-023, for application tracking and portal problems.
• Deputy Director Animal Husbandry at your district office, for verification disputes, unit sizing and subsidy release questions.
• The department's own pages are published at pashudhanharyana.gov.in.

There is no fee payable to any official under this scheme. A Common Service Centre may charge the small notified assistance fee for filling the form, but no one may charge for sanction of the subsidy.