Group Supply of Goats and Sheep (10+1 Goat/Sheep Group Distribution)

What is the Group Supply of Goats and Sheep scheme?

Group Supply of Goats and Sheep is a livelihood scheme of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of Maharashtra. It gives a rural household a ready-made small ruminant enterprise: a group of 10 female goats or sheep with 1 breeding male, the "10+1" unit, at a heavy subsidy, so that a family with little or no land has a source of supplementary income.

The department's stated purpose is to provide supplementary income to farmers through goat or sheep rearing in a semi-stall-fed (partially stall-fed) manner. Semi-stall-fed matters: instead of relying entirely on open grazing, which is shrinking across Maharashtra, animals are housed and fed part of the day, which raises survival rates and lets a family with under an acre keep livestock.

The scheme runs through more than one channel, which is why readers find it under different names on different government sites:

• As a state-level innovative scheme of the Animal Husbandry Department, launched in 2011 and revised on 27 April 2023.
• As a district-level scheme funded from the District Annual Plan.
• As the Special Component Sub-Plan version for Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist beneficiaries.
• As the Tribal Sub-Plan (OTSP) version for Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries.

The unit and the subsidy pattern are the same; the funding head and the target group differ.

How much subsidy is given, and what does a unit cost?

Subsidy rates: 75 per cent for Scheduled Caste, Neo-Buddhist and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, and 50 per cent for the general category. The beneficiary pays the balance to 25 per cent or 50 per cent of the unit cost; as their own contribution. On a Rs 1,03,545 goat unit, a Scheduled Caste beneficiary's share works out to Rs 25,886.

The unit cost is not a cash payment. It covers the cost of the animals and the associated items the department includes in the unit; the government share is released against actual purchase and verification.

Who is eligible for the goat and sheep group scheme?

You can apply if you are a resident of Maharashtra and fall in one of the priority groups the department names:

• Below Poverty Line households.
• Small and marginal landholders. The group the semi-stall-fed model is designed for.
• Registered unemployed persons looking for self-employment, registered with the employment exchange.
• Women who are members of a self-help group.

Within these groups, the Beed Zilla Parishad records a 30 per cent priority reservation for women and for persons with disabilities.

Additional conditions in practice:

• You must have space and the ability to build a shed for semi-stall-fed rearing, and access to fodder or grazing.
• You must be able to put in your own 25 or 50 per cent share, the subsidy does not cover the whole unit.
• You must have an active bank account in your own name.

You cannot apply, or your application will not be selected, if:

• You are not a resident of Maharashtra.
• You claim the 75 per cent rate without a valid caste certificate, the higher rate is only for Scheduled Caste, Neo-Buddhist and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries under the respective sub-plans.
• You or your household has already received a goat or sheep unit under this or a similar animal husbandry scheme. Repeat benefit to the same household is not allowed.
• You apply after the annual window closes — late applications are not accepted.
• You cannot arrange the beneficiary contribution, or have no place to house the animals.

How to apply for Group Supply of Goats and Sheep

1. Wait for the annual advertisement. The Animal Husbandry Department announces the application window each year. It has typically opened around June and July and stayed open for about a month. The notice appears on ah.mahabms.com and on the taluka animal husbandry office notice board.
2. Register on the AH-MahaBMS portal at ah.mahabms.com, or download the AH-MahaBMS mobile app, and create an account using your Aadhaar and mobile number.
3. Complete your profile, name, address, taluka, category, land details if any, and bank account details. The taluka you register in determines which district target list you compete in.
4. Select the goat or sheep group scheme and the unit type you want, then fill the application form and upload your documents: Aadhaar, photograph, caste certificate if applicable, BPL or income proof, employment exchange card or self-help group proof, land extract if any, and the bank passbook.
5. Submit before the closing date and save the application number from the acknowledgement. Applications submitted after the window shuts are not considered at all.
6. Watch for the selection list. Selection is made against the units sanctioned for your taluka and category, priority groups first, and districts commonly draw a lottery when applicants exceed the target.
7. Complete the formalities on selection; deposit your own share, build or ready the shed, and buy the animals under the supervision of the taluka veterinary officer, who verifies the purchase before the subsidy is released.

How to apply with help, and how to check status

If you cannot use the portal, the taluka animal husbandry office and the panchayat samiti's veterinary section will help you register and upload the documents. Common Service Centres also complete AH-MahaBMS applications for the notified fee.

To check status, log in to ah.mahabms.com or the app and open your applied schemes; the selection list for each taluka is also displayed at the panchayat samiti and the district animal husbandry office of the zilla parishad.

Common reasons applications fail

• Applying after the window closed. This is the single biggest reason, and nothing can be done about it until the next cycle.
• Caste certificate not uploaded while claiming the 75 per cent rate, so the application drops to the 50 per cent general pool or is rejected.
• Aadhaar and bank account mismatch, which stops the subsidy release even after selection.
• Priority documents missing; no BPL card, no employment exchange registration, no self-help group proof, so the application is treated as general category and loses out on the target list.
• No shed or fodder arrangement at the time of field verification.
• Beneficiary share not deposited within the time the district office gives after selection, in which case the unit passes to the next applicant.

Where to complain

• Taluka Animal Husbandry Officer / panchayat samiti veterinary section, the first point of contact for application and selection issues.
• District Animal Husbandry Officer, Zilla Parishad, for selection list and subsidy release disputes.
• Regional Joint Commissioner of Animal Husbandry, and the Commissioner of Animal Husbandry, Pune, through dahd.maharashtra.gov.in.
• Aaple Sarkar grievance portal, grievances.maharashtra.gov.in, for a written complaint carrying a tracking number.

Registration on ah.mahabms.com is free. No agent can secure a unit for you, and the selection list is a public document you are entitled to see.