Housing Assistance Scheme for Tribal Students, Madhya Pradesh (Awas Sahayata Yojana)

What is the Awas Sahayata Yojana?

Awas Sahayata Yojana; locally also called awas bhatta or the housing allowance scheme: is a Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs Department scheme that pays a monthly rent allowance to tribal students who have to live away from home for higher studies and who could not get a place in a government hostel.

According to the Tribal Affairs Department's own scheme page, the department issued the Awas Sahayata Yojana Rules 2016 through government order number F 12-06/2013/25-2/1860 dated 23 December 2016. The reason given is practical: government hostels are not available in sufficient number for college-level education, so tribal boys and girls who move out of their home town to continue graduate and higher-level study are given money to arrange their own accommodation instead.

The scheme sits under the department's "शैक्षणिक प्रोत्साहन" (educational incentive) group, alongside the post-matric scholarship, the Kanya Saksharta Protsahan incentive, the cycle scheme and the foreign study scholarship.

How much does Awas Sahayata Yojana pay?

The Tribal Affairs Department publishes three rates, decided by the level of the headquarters where the student rents a room:

Two points in the department's rules decide who gets which rate, and both are easy to get wrong:

• Entitlement follows the residence, not the college. The department states that a student's entitlement is based on the headquarters of the rented accommodation, not the headquarters of the institution being attended.
• The allowance runs for 12 months, not for the teaching months only.

Rent above the fixed rate is the student's own responsibility. The department also states that no housing facility other than this allowance is provided.

Who is eligible for tribal housing assistance?

A student can claim the allowance if:

• The student belongs to a Scheduled Tribe and is a resident of Madhya Pradesh.
• The student has passed Class 12 and has taken regular admission to a graduate, postgraduate or other higher-level course, including technical and paramedical courses: in a government or recognised non-government college, university or institution.
• The student did not get admission to any government hostel. This is the core condition; the scheme exists precisely to cover students the hostel system could not absorb.
• The student's family income is within the income limit fixed for the post-matric scholarship scheme, which the department adopts as the income test for this scheme too.
• The student's home town and the college are not inside the same local body — the same urban body or gram panchayat. If both fall inside one local body's boundary, there is no entitlement. Beyond that, the department states there is no distance condition at all.
• Girls of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe selected into pre-examination training centres are also entitled to housing assistance under this scheme until regular hostel operation begins for them.

A student is not eligible if:

• The student got admission to a government hostel. The two benefits are alternatives, not additions.
• The student failed the examination, or the result was withheld. In either case the student is ineligible in the following year.
• The student's family income exceeds the post-matric scholarship income ceiling.
• The student's residence and the institution lie within the same local body boundary.
• The student is not from a Scheduled Tribe. Scheduled Caste students have a parallel housing assistance scheme run by the Scheduled Caste Welfare Department.

One rule works strongly in families' favour: all children of the same mother or father are counted as separate beneficiaries, so two or three siblings studying in different towns can each draw the allowance.

How to apply for Awas Sahayata Yojana

The Tribal Affairs Department sets out the application process directly.

1. Register your beneficiary (hitgrahi) profile on the MPTAAS portal: Madhya Pradesh Tribal Affairs and Scheduled Caste Welfare Automation System, at tribal.mp.gov.in/MPTAAS. This can be done at an internet kiosk if you do not have your own device.
2. Wait until the last date of admission to your course has passed. The department specifically states the application is made after that date.
3. Log in to the departmental Scholarship Portal 2.0 and open the Awas Sahayata Yojana application available there.
4. Fill in the form and upload the marksheet of the previous class passed, an affidavit, and the landlord's consent letter or the rent agreement (kirayanama).
5. Check every entry carefully before locking the application. The department warns that an application containing erroneous or misleading information will be cancelled outright.
6. Submit the application through the hostel superintendent, block education officer or principal as applicable. The department names these along with the District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner as the contact points.

There is no application fee.

How to apply offline or get help

1. Visit the office of the District Organiser (Jila Sanyojak) or Assistant Commissioner, Tribal Affairs Department, or the Collector's office in your district. These are the department's named contact points for the scheme.
2. Ask the hostel superintendent of the government hostel you applied to for written confirmation that admission was not granted.
3. Use an internet kiosk (MP Online) for MPTAAS profile registration if you cannot do it yourself, and keep the profile ID safe.

How is the money paid and how do I check status?

Payment is made online through MPTAAS into the bank account recorded in the student's profile.

1. Log in to tribal.mp.gov.in/MPTAAS with your beneficiary profile ID.
2. Open the application status view for Awas Sahayata and see whether it is pending at institution level, at the District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner, or sanctioned.
3. If the status has not moved, contact the office of the District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner, who is both the designated officer and the appellate authority for this scheme.
4. For portal problems call 1800-2333-951 or email helpdesk.tribal@mp.gov.in.

Why applications get rejected

• Hostel admission was actually granted, which extinguishes the entitlement.
• No rent agreement or landlord consent letter uploaded. This is a named mandatory document, and applications without it fail.
• Wrong headquarters claimed, for example, claiming the Rs 2,000 divisional rate while renting at a tehsil headquarters.
• Residence and college in the same local body, which the rules exclude.
• Failed or withheld result in the previous year.
• Erroneous or misleading information, which the department says leads to outright cancellation rather than a correction opportunity.
• Application filed before the admission last date or after the financial year window closed.

Key facts and dates

• Scheme rules: Awas Sahayata Yojana Rules 2016, government order F 12-06/2013/25-2/1860 dated 23 December 2016.
• Department: Tribal Affairs Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh.
• Rates: Rs 2,000 / Rs 1,250 / Rs 1,000 per month, for 12 months.
• Divisional headquarters at the top rate: Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain.
• Time limit: the financial year; application after the admission last date.
• Application fee: nil.
• Designated officer and appellate authority: District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner.

Help and grievance redressal

• Tribal Affairs Department helpdesk: 1800-2333-951, helpdesk.tribal@mp.gov.in (10 am to 6 pm on working days)
• Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline: 181
• Appeal: District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner, Tribal Affairs Department
• In person: office of the District Organiser / Assistant Commissioner or the Collector's office in your district

Registration and application are free. No kiosk operator, hostel official or agent may charge a student for filing an MPTAAS application, though an MP Online kiosk may charge its own notified service fee for assisted typing.