Integrated Poultry Development Programme - 25+3 Pullet Distribution Scheme

What is the 25+3 Pullet Distribution Scheme?

The Integrated Poultry Development Programme is a district annual plan scheme of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Government of Maharashtra. Its best known component is the 25+3 bird group distribution scheme, under which a selected beneficiary receives a group of 25 female birds and 3 male birds at a 50 per cent subsidy, as a starting flock for backyard poultry rearing.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry's district-level scheme listing, the programme was initiated in 2010 and its current parameters were set by a Government Resolution dated 20 January 2023. The unit cost is Rs 10,840 and the subsidy is 50 per cent for all categories, so the beneficiary's own contribution is Rs 5,420. Of the assistance, a share is delivered as the birds themselves, valued at Rs 4,200, and the remaining amount is released to the beneficiary through Direct Benefit Transfer at the taluka level.

The purpose is narrow and practical. Backyard poultry needs very little land, no shed construction beyond a simple night enclosure, and no purchased feed if the birds forage. A flock of 28 birds gives a rural household eggs for consumption and a small saleable surplus, and the males provide breeding replacement. The department treats it as a supplementary income activity for the poorest rural households rather than as commercial poultry promotion, which is why the target group is defined the way it is.

Who is eligible for the 25+3 bird group?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of the district in which you are applying, since the scheme runs on district annual plan funds and units are sanctioned district by district.
• You fall in one of the target groups named by the department: below poverty line families, landless agricultural labourers, backward class families, and marginal and small landholders.
• You have an Aadhaar-seeded bank account capable of receiving the DBT component.
• You can produce either a 7/12 and 8-A extract showing a marginal holding, or a certificate of landlessness from the revenue authority.
• You are willing to pay your 50 per cent share of Rs 5,420 when called upon after selection.

You cannot apply or will not be selected if:

• You are not a resident of the district applying in.
• Your household has already received a bird group under the same scheme within the period the department treats as the repeat-benefit bar.
• You cannot establish your category status, no BPL card, no caste certificate where the claim rests on backward class status, and no land record or landless certificate.
• You are running a commercial poultry enterprise. Larger poultry ventures are routed through the National Livestock Mission and the department's own state-level and innovative schemes, not through this district backyard scheme.
• Your bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT component cannot be paid.

How much subsidy does the scheme give?

The 50 per cent rate is uniform. Unlike several other Maharashtra animal husbandry schemes, this one does not carry a higher subsidy slab for Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe applicants: category status affects priority in selection, not the subsidy percentage.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the 25+3 poultry scheme

1. Open the Maharashtra Animal Husbandry Department portal at ah.mahabms.com during the announced application window for the financial year.
2. Register with your name, district, taluka, village, Aadhaar number and mobile number, and verify the OTP sent to that mobile number.
3. Log in and select the Integrated Poultry Development Programme and within it the 25+3 bird group component for your district.
4. Fill the application with your category, landholding details and bank account details, taking care that the name matches the Aadhaar record exactly.
5. Upload the scanned documents — Aadhaar, residence proof, bank passbook, land record or landless certificate, and the caste or BPL certificate if you are claiming priority.
6. Submit the application and save the application number shown on screen and sent by SMS.
7. Attend the document verification at the taluka animal husbandry office when called, carrying the originals of everything uploaded.
8. On selection, pay your beneficiary share of Rs 5,420 as directed and take delivery of the bird group through the taluka office.

Applicants without internet access can file the same online application at a Common Service Centre or Aaple Sarkar Seva Kendra, or ask the taluka animal husbandry officer or the livestock supervisor at the village level for assistance. The department does not run a separate paper application track for this scheme.

How to check your application status

1. Log in to ah.mahabms.com with the mobile number and password used at registration.
2. Open the application and read the current stage, submitted, verification pending, selected, or not selected for the year.
3. If selected, watch for the SMS asking for the beneficiary contribution, as selections lapse if the share is not paid within the time given.
4. For anything the portal does not show, contact the taluka animal husbandry office or the District Animal Husbandry Officer at the Zilla Parishad, quoting the application number.

Why applications get rejected

• District units exhausted. The district's sanctioned number of bird groups for the year is filled before your application is reached. This is the most common outcome and is a deferral rather than a permanent rejection; reapply in the next window.
• Category certificate missing, so a priority claim cannot be recognised and the application drops to the general queue.
• No land record and no landless certificate, leaving the applicant's status unestablished.
• Name mismatch between the Aadhaar card, the bank passbook and the land record.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the DBT component.
• Beneficiary share not paid within the window after selection.
• Repeat benefit. The household already received a bird group under the same scheme.

Help and grievance redressal

• First stop: the livestock supervisor or the taluka animal husbandry office where your documents are verified
• District level: the District Animal Husbandry Officer at the Zilla Parishad, who administers the district annual plan units
• Portal support: the helpdesk contact published on ah.mahabms.com
• Maharashtra CM Helpline: 1800 120 8040

There is no application fee for the 25+3 bird group scheme. The only money a beneficiary pays is the notified Rs 5,420 contribution, paid through the channel the taluka office specifies, and no agent is entitled to a fee for "getting your name selected".