Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana (Dr Ambedkar Vasati Yojana), Karnataka

What is Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana?

Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana; widely searched as Dr Ambedkar Vasati Yojana: is the housing scheme that Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation Limited (RGRHCL) runs for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families in Karnataka. RGRHCL's own scheme menu lists it twice, once as "Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana Rural" and once as "Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana Urban", confirming that the scheme operates in villages and towns alike.

RGRHCL is a Government of Karnataka enterprise created in 2000 as a special purpose vehicle "to provide housing for socially and economically weaker sections of the society through effective implementation of Central and State housing schemes". The corporation reports the Ambedkar scheme's government orders, guidelines and scheme profile year by year on ashraya.karnataka.gov.in, going back to 2015-16.

The scale is substantial. A 2017-18 government order published on the corporation's site set a total of 6,45,000 houses across all its schemes for that year, of which 1,56,000 houses were allotted to Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana (rural and urban). The second-largest block after the Basava Vasati Yojane's 3,20,000, and ahead of the Devraj Urs scheme's 1,00,000.

The scheme is a subsidy for self-construction, not a ready flat handed over by a contractor. The family builds; the government pays in stages as the walls go up.

Who is eligible for Dr Ambedkar Vasati Yojana?

You can be selected if:

• Your family belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, evidenced by a caste certificate from the competent Karnataka authority. This is the defining condition of the scheme.
• You are a permanent resident of Karnataka.
• Your family is houseless, or lives in a kutcha structure needing replacement.
• You own a site, or hold a hakku patra issued under a government site scheme, on which the house can be built.
• Your name is approved in the gram sabha list in a village, or the urban local body list in a town, against the target allotted for that year.
• You hold an Aadhaar-seeded bank account, since the subsidy moves only by direct transfer.

You cannot apply or are not eligible if:

• You are not from a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. Other RGRHCL schemes; Basava Vasati Yojane, Devraj Urs Housing Scheme, Vajpayee Urban Housing Scheme, PMAY — cover other groups.
• Your family already owns a pucca house in Karnataka.
• Your family has already drawn a housing subsidy under any government scheme. RGRHCL publishes a "beneficiaries deleted from the list" report, and duplicate benefit is the commonest reason for deletion.
• You have no site and no hakku patra, because there is nowhere to build.
• Your name is not in the approved list for the year. Writing directly to RGRHCL does not create an entitlement; selection is a local-body function.

How much assistance is given, and how is it paid?

The unit assistance is fixed by government order for each scheme and each financial year, and differs between the rural and urban versions. RGRHCL publishes those orders: separate ones for 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 are listed for this scheme, along with the scheme guidelines and profile. Read the current order, or ask the sub-divisional RGRHCL office, rather than trusting a figure quoted second-hand, because the rates are revised.

The payment method is consistent and worth understanding before you start building:

• Stage-wise release. RGRHCL tracks houses at foundation, lintel and roof level, and the instalments follow those stages.
• Direct bank transfer to the beneficiary, not to a contractor or a panchayat.
• Photographic proof for every stage. The corporation's notice to beneficiaries says: "Now you can upload your house stage photograph and claim subsidy amount through Ashraya Mobile App, which is available in Google Play store." A user manual for the app is published on the site.
• Interest subvention is offered on the housing loan component of some RGRHCL projects, with self-declaration forms published for Canara Bank and non-Canara Bank borrowers.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Dr Ambedkar Vasati Yojana

1. Get your caste certificate ready. Without a valid SC or ST certificate from the competent Karnataka authority, the application cannot be considered under this scheme.
2. Apply at your gram panchayat if you live in a village, or at your city corporation, municipality or town panchayat if you live in a town, when the year's housing target is announced.
3. Fill the application with family details, ration card and Aadhaar numbers, site particulars and bank account number, attach the documents, and collect an acknowledgement.
4. Attend the gram sabha at which beneficiaries are selected, or follow the local body's approval process in an urban area. Selection is a public process and objections are heard there.
5. Once selected, your record is entered in the RGRHCL system; verify it using the beneficiary information option on ashraya.karnataka.gov.in.
6. Download the Ashraya mobile app, begin construction, and upload a photograph at each stage to claim the corresponding instalment.
7. Complete the house within the sanctioned period. Instalments stop where construction stalls, and long-stalled cases can be cancelled.

How to check your Dr Ambedkar Nivas Yojana status

1. Open ashraya.karnataka.gov.in and use the beneficiary information option.
2. Check the rural or urban beneficiarywise report, whichever applies to you, and the categorywise report which separates beneficiaries by social category.
3. If your name is missing, look at the "beneficiaries deleted from the list" report and the name similarities report before concluding it is a clerical error.
4. Track your stage payments inside the Ashraya mobile app against the photographs you uploaded.

Common reasons an SC or ST housing case fails

• Caste certificate invalid or expired, or issued by an authority the department does not accept.
• Duplicate benefit. The family already received a house under Ambedkar Nivas, Basava Vasati, Devraj Urs or PMAY.
• No clear title to the site, or a site under dispute.
• Stage photograph not uploaded, or the construction stage in the photograph does not match what was claimed.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, closed or dormant.
• Name mismatch across Aadhaar, ration card, caste certificate and the beneficiary list.

Correct these with the gram panchayat or urban local body that made the selection, and with the sub-divisional RGRHCL office, rather than filing a fresh application, which pushes you to the back of the queue.

Related bodies you may be sent to

If your home is inside a notified slum, your case may be handled by the Karnataka Slum Development Board rather than RGRHCL. The Board redevelops slums, publishes district-wise slum details, and lists approved affordable housing projects; RGRHCL's own site links to a list of approved AHP projects under the Board. The Board publishes a helpline: 080-23564925 and 080-23460085.

Help and grievance redressal

• RGRHCL head office: Kaveri Bhavan, 9th Floor, C & F Block, K.G. Road, Bengaluru 560009.
• Telephone: 080-22106888 and 080-23118888. Email: rgrhcl@nic.in.
• Sub-divisional RGRHCL offices in the districts for beneficiary-level problems.
• Your gram panchayat or urban local body, which holds the selection file.

RGRHCL has publicly cautioned beneficiaries not to fall prey to the inducements of middlemen, and asked them to approach the corporation's head office or sub-divisional office directly. No fee is payable for selection under Dr B R Ambedkar Nivas Yojana, and no official will ask for your Aadhaar OTP.