Women Self Employment Scheme, Himachal Pradesh

What is the Women Self Employment Scheme in Himachal Pradesh?

The Women Self Employment Scheme is a small self-employment grant of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Himachal Pradesh. It gives a woman a one-time sum of money to put into a trade she can run herself, so that she has an income of her own rather than a monthly dole.

According to the scheme's published details, the assistance is Rs 5,000, given once, to a woman who wants to start a small business, trade or small industry. The scheme names the kinds of activity it will fund: a tea stall, karyana shop, pan-bidi or cigarette shop, stationery shop, tea and biscuit shop, tailor shop, wool, khadi or embroidery shop, poultry farm, maniyari shop, and any other income-generating activity identified at the local level. That last clause is what gives district officers room to sanction something suited to a particular town or valley rather than only to the listed trades.

This is a modest, district-administered welfare grant, not an industrial incentive. Readers looking for a larger capital subsidy to set up a manufacturing unit should look instead at the state's Mukhya Mantri Swavalamban Yojana, run by the Department of Industries, which is a different scheme with a far larger investment-linked subsidy.

Who is eligible for the Women Self Employment Scheme, and who is not

You can apply if:

• You are a woman residing in Himachal Pradesh.
• Your annual income from all sources does not exceed Rs 35,000.
• You intend to set up your own business, trade or small industry to earn a livelihood.
• You are a physically handicapped person, who is also covered under this scheme.

You are not eligible if:

• Your annual income is above Rs 35,000. This ceiling is the scheme's main filter and is verified from the income certificate.
• You are applying for general household expenses, repayment of a loan or consumption, rather than for setting up an income-generating activity.
• You have already received the assistance and not used it for the sanctioned purpose, in which case the earlier amount is recoverable rather than a fresh grant being sanctioned.

The scheme carries no age bar and no education requirement in its published conditions.

What documents are required?

The income certificate is the document that decides most cases, and it is obtained from the revenue authority, the Tehsildar's office — not from the Welfare Office. Get it issued before you fill the application, because an application without it will simply wait.

How to apply for the Women Self Employment Scheme

1. Visit the office of the District Welfare Officer during office hours and ask the staff entrusted with the scheme for a hard copy of the prescribed application form, Annexure-I.
2. Fill in all the mandatory fields of the form, and attach self-attested copies of the mandatory documents: income certificate, bond form and Aadhaar card.
3. Submit the duly filled and signed application form with the documents to the District Welfare Officer.
4. Ask for a receipt or acknowledgement, and check that it carries the date and time of submission and a unique identification number where one is given.

There is no application fee. No online application route is published for this scheme, so the paper route through the District Welfare Officer is the only one.

How is the application decided?

The District Welfare Officer receives the application, scrutinises it and forwards it to the Deputy Commissioner of the district, who is the sanctioning authority. Follow-up is therefore best done at the District Welfare Office, which can tell you whether the file is still under scrutiny or has moved to the Deputy Commissioner for sanction.

Two conditions ride on the sanction. The bond form signed at the time of application binds the beneficiary to use the grant for the activity applied for. And the District Welfare Officer or a representative inspects at least 50 per cent of beneficiaries every year to verify that the assistance was actually used to start the trade. Where funds are found not to have been used as intended, the amount is recovered with interest and legal action may follow.

Why applications are rejected

• Annual income above Rs 35,000, or an income certificate that is out of date.
• Income certificate not attached, which stalls scrutiny at the first stage.
• Bond form not signed, since the grant cannot be released without the undertaking.
• No identifiable income-generating activity named in the form. The scheme funds a trade, so "for household needs" is not a sanctionable purpose.
• Budget exhausted for the year in the district, in which case the case is carried forward rather than refused on merit. The District Welfare Officer can confirm this.

Where to get help

Applications, status and grievances under this scheme are handled by the District Welfare Officer of your district, under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Himachal Pradesh. Where a case has been forwarded, the Deputy Commissioner's office is the sanctioning authority. No dedicated statewide helpline is published for this scheme, so the district office is the correct and only contact point, and no fee should be paid to anyone for filing or forwarding the form.