Chief Minister-gi Shotharabasingi Tengbang (CMST)

What is Chief Minister-gi Shotharabasingi Tengbang (CMST)?

Chief Minister-gi Shotharabasingi Tengbang, abbreviated CMST and sometimes transliterated as Chief Minister-gi Sotharabasingi Tengbang, is an umbrella scheme of the Social Welfare Department, Government of Manipur for the welfare of persons with disabilities. The Chief Minister launched it on 3 December 2017. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities; at the Indoor Stadium, Khuman Lampak, Imphal, under the then Social Welfare and Co-operation portfolio.

CMST is not a single cash transfer. District Social Welfare Offices in Manipur list it as one scheme with five sub-schemes, each addressing a different gap: the household cost of caring for a person with high support needs, the cost of schooling, the difficulty of finding work, the cost of getting around, and the destitution of homeless older people. Around 2,126 people across all categories were covered in the first round at launch.

Manipur's Social Welfare Department already ran disability programmes before CMST; two government special schools for visually impaired and hearing impaired children with hostels, four NGO-run special schools, a diet allowance of Rs 500 a month for hostellers in the government schools, and reserved employment. CMST sits on top of that base as the flagship cash and entitlement package.

What are the five components of CMST?

1. Care-giver allowance / maintenance grant to persons with disabilities with high support needs: Rs 1,500 per month.

This is the headline benefit. The applicant must hold a disability certificate issued by a competent Medical Board, and must meet one of these thresholds:

• Locomotor disability, chronic neurological disorder or blood disorder, degree of disability 80 per cent and above
• Visual impairment: 100 per cent degree of disability, in the age group 19 to 59 years
• Mental retardation, 40 per cent and above degree of disability

2. Scholarship for students with disabilities.

3. Self-employment loan with subsidy, along with skill training.

Available to persons with disabilities in the age group 19 to 59 years. Loans are provided to individuals, to parent organisations and to disabled people's organisations, and are routed through the Manipur Society for Skill Development for economically viable self-employment.

4. Free travel and concession on public transport.

The applicant is issued a card for availing free travel or concession on public transport systems, including services run by Manipur State Transport.

5. Maintenance grant for homeless older persons — Rs 1,000 per month.

This component covers all persons aged 60 years and above who are sheltered in old age homes recognised by the Social Welfare Department. It is aimed at elderly people who are homeless or have been abandoned by their children.

A health insurance component was also announced at launch, with the state paying the annual premium under a Swavlamban-style health insurance scheme for persons with disabilities, giving cover of around Rs 2 lakh for a family of four including OPD charges. Confirm the current status of this component with your District Social Welfare Office before relying on it, since persons with disabilities are separately an eligible category under the state's CMHT health assurance scheme.

Who is eligible for CMST in Manipur?

You can get CMST benefits if:

• You hold a disability certificate issued by a competent Medical Board in Manipur.
• You are a Manipuri by birth, or have settled in the state for at least 10 years. The residence test the Social Welfare Department applies to disability assistance.
• For the care-giver allowance, your certified disability meets the threshold for your disability type set out above.
• For the scholarship, you are a student with a disability enrolled in Class I onwards, up to graduation and technical courses.
• For the self-employment loan, you are aged 19 to 59.
• For the homeless older persons maintenance grant, you are 60 years or above and sheltered in an old age home recognised by the department.

You are not eligible if:

• You have no disability certificate from a competent Medical Board. Nothing under CMST moves without it.
• Your certified degree of disability is below the threshold for the care-giver allowance, for example 60 per cent locomotor disability, or 70 per cent visual impairment.
• You are outside the 19 to 59 age band and are applying for the self-employment loan.
• You are under 60, or not sheltered in a recognised old age home, and are applying for the homeless older persons maintenance grant.
• You are neither a Manipuri by birth nor settled in Manipur for 10 years.

What documents are needed for CMST?

The degree of disability stated on the certificate is the figure the sanctioning committee reads. If your condition has worsened since the certificate was issued, get a fresh assessment from the Medical Board before applying, because the office will not re-assess you.

How to apply for CMST in Manipur

1. Get a disability certificate from a competent Medical Board. District Social Welfare Offices in Manipur hold periodic disability assessment camps; attending one is the quickest route to a certificate.
2. Collect the application form. Forms are available at the Directorate of Social Welfare, Imphal, the office of the Deputy Commissioner of your district, the offices of the SDOs, and the offices of the DSWO, DPO and CDPO (ICDS) in your district. They can also be downloaded from the Social Welfare Department website.
3. Fill the form for the component you want; care-giver allowance, scholarship, self-employment loan, travel concession card or homeless older persons maintenance grant. Each component is applied for separately.
4. Attach the disability certificate, residence proof, Aadhaar, bank passbook copy, age proof and photographs, and the bonafide certificate if you are a student.
5. Submit the completed form at your District Social Welfare Office and take an acknowledgement.
6. Follow up with the District Social Welfare Officer on sanction. Payments under the cash components are credited to the beneficiary's bank account.

Is there an online application? No. CMST is an offline scheme. The Social Welfare Department has not published an online submission route for it, and forms are collected and submitted physically. Beware of any website or agent claiming to file a CMST application online for a fee.

When is CMST money paid?

The care-giver allowance is a monthly payment of Rs 1,500, and the homeless older persons maintenance grant is a monthly payment of Rs 1,000. The disability scholarships are annual rates, paid per academic year. Manipur's Social Welfare Department releases pension and allowance payments in batches after beneficiary verification, so a first payment can arrive as accumulated arrears for several months rather than as a single month's amount.

The department carries out periodic verification of beneficiaries under its welfare payments, in which death and duplicate cases are struck off the list. If you have moved or changed bank accounts, tell the District Social Welfare Office in writing rather than waiting for the payment to fail.

Why do CMST applications get rejected?

• Disability percentage below the threshold for the care-giver allowance. This is the single biggest reason.
• Certificate not issued by a competent Medical Board, a private doctor's letter is not accepted.
• Visual impairment applicant outside the 19-59 age band, which the care-giver criteria specify.
• Residence test not met, where the applicant is neither a Manipuri by birth nor settled in the state for 10 years.
• Bank account not in the applicant's own name, or not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT fails.
• Applying for the older persons grant while living at home rather than in a department-recognised old age home.
• Incomplete form or missing photographs, which stalls the file at the district office.

Where do I complain about CMST?

• District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) of your district, the first point for delays in sanction or payment. District Social Welfare Offices publish their officers' names and mobile numbers on their district NIC websites.
• Deputy Commissioner of the district, who chairs district-level committees on social welfare schemes.
• Directorate of Social Welfare, Government of Manipur, Imphal. The sanctioning directorate for all state disability components.
• Grievance redressal form on the Social Welfare Manipur website, socialwelfare.mn.gov.in, which accepts a complaint or suggestion with your name, address, phone, email and subject.
• State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Manipur, for rights violations under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Applying for CMST is free. No fee is charged for the form, the disability assessment camp or the sanction, and no middleman can add your name to the beneficiary list.

How to check your application status

CMST has no online tracking portal, no application ID system, and no SMS status service. Since every component is filed on paper at the District Social Welfare Office, checking status means following up with the office that holds your file, not logging in anywhere.

Before you can check anything, note these three things at the time you submit:

• The date you submitted the form and the component you applied for (care-giver allowance, scholarship, self-employment loan, travel card or homeless older persons grant).
• The name of the official who received it, and their designation, DSWO, DPO or CDPO staff.
• Whether you were given a written acknowledgement or receipt number. Not every district office issues one, but ask for it and keep it if offered.

Steps to check status:

1. Visit or call your District Social Welfare Office directly. This is the only reliable channel, since there is no central helpline number published for CMST. Ask specifically whether your file has reached the sanctioning stage or is still pending verification.
2. Ask the DSWO staff to check the beneficiary list for your component. Sanctioned cases are added to a list that the office uses to release payments; staff can tell you if your name has appeared on it.
3. For the care-giver allowance and the homeless older persons grant, ask whether your bank account has been seeded for the payment batch. These are recurring monthly payments, so an approved case that hasn't been paid usually means the DBT seeding step is pending, not that the application was rejected.
4. For the scholarship, check at the start of the academic year and again a few months in, since these are released once a year and colleges or schools processing bonafide certificates can add delay before the file even reaches the department.
5. For the self-employment loan, follow up with the Manipur Society for Skill Development, which routes these loans, in addition to the DSWO, since sanction and disbursal can sit with either office at different stages.
6. If weeks pass with no update, escalate in writing to the Deputy Commissioner's office, which chairs district social welfare committees, or use the grievance form on socialwelfare.mn.gov.in, quoting your submission date and the official you handed the form to.

Because there is no digital trail, keep a copy of everything you submitted. If your file is ever said to be missing, a photocopy of your application with the office's acknowledgement is the only proof you have that you applied at all.