Scheme for Campaign, Seminar and Sports under Disability Sector, Odisha

What is the Scheme for Campaign, Seminar and Sports under Disability Sector?

Scheme for Campaign, Seminar and Sports under Disability Sector is a grant programme of the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) Department, Government of Odisha. The department funds events; awareness campaigns, seminars, workshops, sports meets and cultural programmes, rather than paying money to households.

The SSEPD Department circulated the comprehensive guideline to all Collectors under letter No. 2672/SSEPD dated 22 March 2021, file reference SSEPD-DA-I-MISC-0002/2021, with a copy to all District Social Security Officers. The department's own framing in that letter is that events celebrating days in the disability sector, programmes for sports and cultural development of persons with disabilities to explore hidden talent among them, and workshops, seminars and symposia are being organised under the scheme, and that a comprehensive guideline was needed for systematic appraisal of project proposals.

The introduction to the guideline states the underlying problem directly: representation of persons with disabilities in most government programmes remains below target in the absence of adequate awareness.

What does the scheme aim to do?

The guideline lists nine objectives:

1. Give wide publicity, including event-based publicity, through print, electronic and film media and multimedia, on schemes and programmes for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
2. Create awareness on the rights of persons with disabilities and on provisioning for their representation under different schemes.
3. Launch awareness on the causes leading to disability, and on prevention through early detection.
4. Encourage volunteer action for effective implementation of the legal provisions and welfare schemes meant for persons with disabilities.
5. Extend financial support for national and international events organised by reputed organisations working for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
6. Organise programmes promoting sports spirit among persons with disabilities, art and craft and culture, and celebration of days in the disability sector.
7. Organise job fairs, campaigns and awareness on skill development.
8. Create awareness on universal accessibility: accessible buildings, accessible transport, accessible websites, and accessibility audits of public buildings.
9. Promote individual excellence of persons with disabilities.

Which activities can be funded?

The guideline lists eleven admissible activity heads:

• Conducting seminars, workshops, cultural events, fairs and exhibitions.
• Participation of persons with disabilities in national and international initiatives in the field of disability.
• Conducting studies, surveys and evaluation programmes on the special needs of persons with disabilities, including availability of technology and assistive aids and appliances.
• Convergence with different departments and organisations for the welfare of persons with disabilities.
• Support activities such as telecasting on TV channels of programmes exclusively developed and performed by persons with disabilities.
• Organising special events and celebration of special days.
• Awareness campaigns for skill development and employment generation, including exclusive job fairs.
• Awareness on universal accessibility, including accessibility audits of public buildings.
• Promoting individual excellence in the disability sector.
• Promotion of best practices and innovation.
• Any other programme considered for persons with disabilities.

The guideline also records a preference: special focus is to encourage an innovative approach and new initiatives in the sector.

Who is eligible for financial assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are an institution or organisation working for the welfare of persons with disabilities, and you are organising a state level or district level programme.
• You are a person with disability seeking support for an activity covered by the scheme, such as participation in a national or international initiative in the field of disability, or promotion of individual excellence.
• You can produce a utilisation certificate for any funds sanctioned to you earlier under the scheme.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an individual looking for a personal welfare payment — a pension, a scholarship or household assistance. This scheme funds events and activities. Persons with disabilities seeking income support in Odisha should look at Madhu Babu Pension Yojana, the Banishree Scholarship or the components of Bhima Bhoi Bhinnakshyama Samarthya Abhiyan instead.
• Your proposal reaches the DSSO less than one month before the event.
• Your previous grant under the scheme is unaccounted for, with no utilisation certificate countersigned by the DSSO.
• Your event is neither a state level nor a district level programme, the guideline says financial assistance will be provided to state and district level programmes.

This is the point readers most often get wrong. The scheme is not a benefit an individual applies for the way one applies for a pension. It is a project grant, appraised against a proposal.

How much financial assistance is given?

These are maximum ceilings, not entitlements. The guideline says financial assistance to the eligible organisation for state level events will be limited to Rs 1.00 lakh per event, and for district level events Rs 50,000 per event. The sanctioned amount depends on the appraisal of the proposal and on the department's budget.

How to apply for a campaign, seminar or sports grant in Odisha

1. Decide whether your event is a state level or a district level programme, and build a budget within the corresponding ceiling of Rs 1,00,000 or Rs 50,000.
2. Prepare the project proposal covering the objectives, the activity heads it falls under, the expected participation of persons with disabilities, the date and venue, and the itemised budget.
3. Attach the registration papers of your organisation and, if you have received a grant under this scheme before, the utilisation certificate for those funds duly countersigned by the DSSO.
4. Send the proposal to the District Social Security Officer of your district at least one month before the date of the event. The guideline is explicit on this timing.
5. Follow up with the District Collector. Suitable proposals with the recommendation of the Collector concerned are sent to the Director, SSEPD.
6. Wait for sanction from the Director, SSEPD, then run the event and file the utilisation certificate promptly, because your next sanction depends on it.

What happens after the proposal is filed?

The route is fixed by the guideline and has three stages. The DSSO of the district receives the proposal. Suitable proposals with the recommendation of the Collector concerned are then sent to the Director, SSEPD, Department of SSEPD, for consideration of the proposal for sanction of funds. The Director sanctions.

The department's covering letter to Collectors makes the district's role clear: Collectors were requested to recommend suitable proposals for consideration for providing financial assistance. An organisation that bypasses the DSSO and writes directly to Bhubaneswar is likely to be routed back to the district.

The accountability loop closes with the utilisation certificate. The guideline provides that a proposal for sanction will be considered on receipt of utilisation certificates, duly countersigned by the District Social Security Officer concerned, of the funds last sanctioned. Organisations that run events annually should therefore treat the UC as the first step of next year's application, not as paperwork to be done later.

Common reasons a proposal is not sanctioned

• Late submission: anything less than one month before the event.
• No utilisation certificate for the previous sanction.
• Budget above the ceiling for the level of the event.
• No Collector's recommendation, because the proposal was sent directly to the department.
• Activity outside the eleven listed heads, for example a purely commercial or religious event with no disability component.
• Individual seeking household assistance, which is outside the scheme entirely.

Help and grievance redressal

• SSEPD Department, Government of Odisha; Lokaseba Bhavan, Bhubaneswar

751001. Telephone 0674-2391976, fax 0674-2390117, email ssepdodisha@gmail.com. The department's contact page also lists 0674-2392803 and ssepdsec.od@od.gov.in.

• Director, SSEPD, the sanctioning authority for this scheme.
• District Social Security Officer (DSSO) of your district, the first point of submission. The list of DSSOs is published on ssepd.odisha.gov.in.
• Jana Sunani, the Odisha public grievance portal at janasunani.odisha.gov.in.

There is no fee for submitting a proposal under this scheme.

How to check your application status

There is no online tracking ID or portal login for this scheme. The proposal moves through paper channels between three offices, so checking status means following up at the office holding the file at that stage.

1. Start with the District Social Security Officer (DSSO) of the district where the proposal was filed. The DSSO is the first point of contact and will know whether the proposal has already been forwarded to the Collector or is still under scrutiny at the district level.
2. If the DSSO confirms it has been sent onward, ask the Collector's office whether the proposal has been recommended and dispatched to the Director, SSEPD. The guideline routes proposals through the Collector's recommendation, so a proposal can sit here awaiting the Collector's signature before it moves further.
3. For a proposal already sent to the state office, contact the Director, SSEPD, through the SSEPD Department at Lokaseba Bhavan, Bhubaneswar (telephone 0674-2391976 or 0674-2392803, email ssepdodisha@gmail.com or ssepdsec.od@od.gov.in). Quote the date the proposal was submitted to the DSSO and the event name, since there is no application number to reference.
4. If weeks have passed with no response at any stage, a written follow-up (letter or email) referencing the original submission date to the same office creates a paper trail, which matters if the event date is approaching and a decision has not yet come.
5. If normal follow-up gets no response, the proposal or delay can be raised through Jana Sunani, the Odisha public grievance portal at janasunani.odisha.gov.in, which accepts complaints against any state department including SSEPD.

Because sanction has to reach the organisation before the event is held, and the guideline requires proposals to arrive at least a month in advance, it is worth checking in with the DSSO roughly two to three weeks after submission rather than waiting until just before the event date to find out whether the file has moved.