National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities: Divyangjano Ke Liye Sarvshrestha Placement Agency

What is the Divyangjano Ke Liye Sarvshrestha Placement Agency award?

The "Divyangjano Ke Liye Sarvshrestha Placement Agency" award is one of the National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, conferred by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. According to DEPwD, these national awards have been given every year since 1969 to recognise the skills and contribution of persons with disabilities and of the individuals and institutions that empower them.

The National Awards are organised in two broad groups, National Awards for Individual Excellence and National Awards for Institutions Engaged in helping Persons with Disabilities. This particular award sits in the institutional group and recognises the best placement agency that helps persons with disabilities find employment, excluding Government, State Government and local body agencies.

The award is a recognition, not a grant; there is no cash benefit attached to this category. It is a mark of national standing for a placement agency that has done exceptional work.

Who is eligible for the Sarvshrestha Placement Agency award?

A nominee can be considered if:

• It is a placement agency for persons with disabilities, an organisation that registers unemployed persons with disabilities and places them in jobs.
• It is not a Government, State Government or local body agency; the category is reserved for private and non-government placement agencies.

Selection criteria and weightage. According to the scheme details, the best placement agency is chosen against parameters such as:

• Placing at least 50% of registered unemployed persons with disabilities over the last five years, with at least 30% of them women (20% weight).
• Total number of persons with disabilities placed over five years (10% weight).
• Follow-up of placed candidates over five years (25% weight).
• A drop-out rate of placed employees not exceeding 20% in a year (15% weight).
• Balance across disability categories while assisting placement (10% weight).
• Any additional assessment parameter the Screening Committee devises (20% weight).

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals cannot apply for a personal benefit under this category. Persons with disabilities seeking individual recognition should look at the "Individual Excellence" categories, which are open to persons with a benchmark disability of 40% or more (with a valid disability certificate).
• Government, State Government and local body placement agencies are expressly excluded from this category.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Sarvshrestha Placement Agency award

Applications are submitted online only, on the national awards portal at awards.gov.in, the common platform operated by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Applications sent directly to the Department in physical or soft-copy form are not considered.

1. Wait for the advertisement. DEPwD announces the opening of the National Awards Portal and the application window through newspaper advertisements and the Department's website. The last date for receipt of applications is 31 July.
2. Register on the portal. On awards.gov.in, click "Register" on the top right, fill the mandatory fields (using an Aadhaar number or another identity document, with a mobile number linked to it), accept the declaration, complete the captcha and submit. Login credentials arrive on the registered mobile number.
3. Log in and select the award. Sign in, choose "National Awards for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities" from the list of awards, and click "Nominate / Apply Now".
4. Fill the application form in Hindi or English, entering all mandatory fields and the agency's placement record.
5. Upload the supporting documents — one consolidated PDF (up to 5 MB) in the supporting-documents section, which may contain multiple pages.
6. Preview and submit. The application can be reviewed before final submission; once finally submitted it cannot be edited. A confirmation with a Nomination ID is sent by SMS from NATAWD.

Both self-nomination and nomination by others are permitted, and no recommendation of any authority is required.

How is the award decided and presented?

All nominations received within the deadline go to Screening Committees constituted by the Department, which shortlist applications for the National Selection Committee. No award is conferred except on the recommendation of the National Selection Committee, and the approved names are published on the Department's portal (disabilityaffairs.gov.in) and communicated to the awardees.

The award ceremony is held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on 3 December. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and the awards are presented through the President or Vice President of India. The awardee receives a certificate and a shield. DEPwD bears the boarding and lodging of the awardee and one escort, and reimburses to-and-fro travel and accommodation for up to one day before and after the ceremony; the TA/DA admissibility is equivalent to a Class-I officer of the Central Government.

Help and where to apply

Nominations run entirely through awards.gov.in. For guidelines, the advertisement and FAQs, and for any helpdesk assistance, refer to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities website (depwd.gov.in) and the awards portal. A dedicated toll-free helpline for this award is not published; the portal helpdesk is the point of contact for technical issues.