Karmaveer Padmashri Dadasaheb Gaikwad Birth Centenary and Prize Distribution

What is the Karmaveer Padmashri Dadasaheb Gaikwad award?

Karmaveer Padmashri Dadasaheb Gaikwad Birth Centenary and Prize Distribution is a state award instituted by the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra. The award recognises outstanding work against untouchability and other entrenched social practices, and work for the welfare of landless labourers and agricultural labourers, particularly from the Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist communities.

The award is named after Bhaurao Krishnaji Gaikwad (1902-1971), known across Maharashtra as Dadasaheb Gaikwad. Dadasaheb Gaikwad was a close associate of Dr B R Ambedkar, a legislator, and the leader of the land satyagraha movements of landless labourers in the 1950s and 1960s. The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on him in 1968. The state award was created around his birth centenary and continues as an annual honour, which is why the scheme carries the long name "Birth Centenary and Prize Distribution".

Karmaveer Padmashri Dadasaheb Gaikwad Birth Centenary and Prize Distribution is an honour, not a welfare entitlement. There is no monthly benefit, no loan and no subsidy attached to it. The award is fully funded by the Government of Maharashtra.

How much does the award carry?

The Commissionerate of Social Welfare lists these revised amounts, along with Government Resolutions dated 9 October 2001, 7 August 2004 and 4 March 2025, and records that the 2025 award was conferred on 15 October 2025. The older scheme page of the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department still shows the earlier amounts of Rs 21,000 for an individual and Rs 30,000 for an institution. Read the higher figures as the current position under the 2025 Government Resolution, and confirm the amount for the year you are applying in with the district Social Welfare office.

One award is given in each category every year, so this is a genuinely narrow recognition rather than a scheme with a large beneficiary list.

Who is eligible for the Dadasaheb Gaikwad award?

An individual can be considered if:

• The person is a permanent resident of Maharashtra.
• The person is a recognised social worker dedicated to the welfare of landless labourers, agricultural labourers and vulnerable sections of the Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist communities.
• The person has at least 15 years of work in the social sector.
• The person has not received this award before.

An institution can be considered if:

• The institution works in education, health, eradication of injustice, eradication of superstition, public awareness, or welfare of landless agricultural labourers.
• The institution has at least 10 years of documented social welfare work. The department notes that this period may be relaxed for an institution demonstrating exceptional contribution.
• The institution is based in and working in Maharashtra.

You are not eligible if:

• You are not a permanent resident of Maharashtra, or the institution does not work in the state.
• You have fewer than 15 years of individual social work, or the institution has fewer than 10 years of work and cannot show exceptional contribution.
• You have already received this award in an earlier year.
• Your work does not fall within the fields the award covers, the award is specifically for work with landless and agricultural labourers and vulnerable sections, not for general public service.

The department states that selection is not influenced by caste, religion, gender or region. Belonging to a particular community is therefore not a condition; the nature of the work is.

How to apply for the Karmaveer Padmashri Dadasaheb Gaikwad award

1. Watch for the annual notice. The Social Welfare department invites nominations ahead of the 15 October presentation, through district Social Welfare offices and the department website.
2. Prepare the nomination file. A detailed, dated account of the social work done, the districts and communities served, and the results achieved.
3. Attach the supporting evidence — proof of 15 years (individual) or 10 years (institution) of work, institution registration papers, annual reports and audited accounts where applicable, residence proof, and any recommendation letters.
4. Submit the complete proposal to the Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare of your district, within the date announced in the notice. Keep an acknowledgement.
5. The district office scrutinises and forwards eligible proposals to the Commissionerate of Social Welfare, which places them before the state selection committee.
6. Check the announcement of selected names, published before the 15 October function, and attend the state award ceremony if selected.

There is no online application portal dedicated to this award, and no fee.

What documents go with the nomination?

Why are award nominations rejected?

• Insufficient service period, the 15-year and 10-year bars are applied strictly, and undated claims do not count.
• Work outside the award's field. Nominations for general social service that is not connected to landless labourers, agricultural labourers or vulnerable Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist sections are set aside.
• No documentary evidence to support the narrative of work done.
• Institution not registered or unable to show continuous functioning.
• Repeat nomination of someone who has already received the award.
• Proposal submitted after the announced date, or sent to an office other than the district Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare.

Only one award is available in each category each year, so a strong nomination can still go unselected. That is not a finding against the nominee, and the proposal can be resubmitted in a later year with updated evidence.

Where do I ask questions about this award?

• Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare of your district. The receiving and scrutinising office for nominations.
• Commissionerate of Social Welfare, Pune, which processes the state-level selection and publishes the award notice.
• Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, for the governing Government Resolutions.

No fee is charged at any stage. Nobody can arrange selection for this award, and any demand for money in exchange for a nomination should be reported to the district Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare in writing.