Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY)

What is PM-AJAY?

Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana (PM-AJAY) is a Centrally Sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment created in FY 2021-22 by merging three older programmes into one. According to the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, PM-AJAY absorbed Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY), Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCA to SCSP) and Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana (BJRCY).

PM-AJAY works at three levels rather than paying a cash benefit to individuals. The scheme develops SC-majority villages into model villages, funds district-level and state-level projects for the socio-economic betterment of Scheduled Caste communities, and builds hostels so SC students can stay in education. All three streams are administered through the PM-AJAY MIS portal at pmajay.dosje.gov.in.

Key objectives

• Reduce poverty among Scheduled Caste communities by generating additional employment and income opportunities through skill development and income-generating projects.
• Improve socio-economic indicators in SC-dominated villages so they reach at least the state average on the parameters tracked under the scheme.
• Raise enrolment and retention of SC students in schools and higher education by providing hostel accommodation.

Main features

• Three components: Adarsh Gram, Grants-in-aid for District/State-level projects, and Hostel.
• Central assistance of Rs 20 lakh per newly selected Adarsh Gram village for gap-filling, plus Rs 1 lakh for administrative expenses.
• Adarsh Gram villages are assessed against roughly 50 socio-economic indicators covering drinking water, sanitation, health, nutrition and education.
• Funds are released to states, not to individuals; there is no central application form for citizens.

How is PM-AJAY funding divided between components?

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment lays out a fixed allocation pattern for PM-AJAY:

The Grants-in-aid share is distributed among states using two weights of 50% each, the state's Scheduled Caste population, and the state's Scheduled Caste Sub Plan ratio. Aspirational districts and SC-dominated blocks are given priority when districts pick projects.

Who is eligible for PM-AJAY?

Eligible under the Adarsh Gram component:

• Villages with a Scheduled Caste population above the threshold in the scheme guidelines, selected by the State Level Committee.
• Priority goes to SC-dominated villages in aspirational districts and in blocks with a high SC concentration.

Eligible under the Grants-in-aid component:

• District and state administrations proposing infrastructure, livelihood, skilling or income-generating projects that benefit Scheduled Caste communities.
• Individual Scheduled Caste persons enrolled as beneficiaries of an approved livelihood, skilling or income-generating project.

Eligible under the Hostel component:

• Higher education institutions ranked under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) and funded by the Centre, a State or a UT.
• Schools funded by the Centre, State or UT and recommended by the Ministry of Education.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual seeking a direct cash transfer: PM-AJAY does not pay a personal cash benefit and has no individual enrolment form on the central portal.
• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste and are seeking benefit from an individual-beneficiary project under the Grants-in-aid component.
• You represent a private, unaided institution seeking hostel funding. The Hostel component covers institutions funded by the Centre, a State or a UT.
• Your village has not been selected as an Adarsh Gram by the State Level Committee; villages are not eligible merely by having an SC population.

What documents are required for PM-AJAY?

How to apply for PM-AJAY

PM-AJAY has no central application form for citizens. Access runs through the state government and the district administration, in this order:

1. Confirm through your Gram Panchayat or district Social Welfare Office whether your village has been selected as an Adarsh Gram under PM-AJAY, or whether any Grants-in-aid project is running in your block.
2. If your village is selected, take part in the Village Development Plan (VDP) exercise run by the Village Convergence and Monitoring Committee. This is where gaps in drinking water, sanitation, health, nutrition and education are recorded and priced.
3. For an individual benefit, apply to the implementing agency of the sanctioned project, usually the district Social Welfare Office, a state SC development corporation or a skilling partner, with your caste certificate, Aadhaar and bank details.
4. For hostel funding, the institution submits a proposal through the State Social Justice / SC Welfare Department, which forwards it to the Ministry after state-level appraisal.
5. Track sanction and physical progress on the PM-AJAY MIS portal at pmajay.dosje.gov.in, where districts upload plans and progress reports.

If your village believes it should be selected, the request goes to the district administration and the State Level Committee — that committee, not the Ministry, decides which villages enter the Adarsh Gram list.

How much benefit does PM-AJAY provide?

Under the Adarsh Gram component, each newly selected village receives Rs 20 lakh in central gap-filling assistance and Rs 1 lakh for administrative expenses, a total of Rs 21 lakh. The money is deliberately called "gap-filling": it is meant to cover only what other central and state schemes have failed to deliver in that village, after the Village Development Plan identifies the shortfall.

Grants-in-aid amounts vary by project and are decided by the state and district, funded out of the state's share of the allocation. The Hostel component is capped at 2% of the total scheme allocation. As reported by the Ministry to Parliament, 891 hostels have been sanctioned covering 69,212 beneficiaries, with Rs 936.27 crore released.

What does an Adarsh Gram village actually get?

The Adarsh Gram component measures a village against roughly 50 socio-economic indicators grouped around drinking water and sanitation, education, health and nutrition, social security, rural roads and housing, electrification and financial inclusion. Where a gap remains after convergence with other schemes, PM-AJAY money pays for it, a community water point, a school boundary wall, an anganwadi upgrade, an approach road or a drainage line.

Because the grant is gap-filling, two villages with the same population can receive very different works. The Village Development Plan is therefore the document that decides what your village gets, and it is prepared locally.

Where to raise a PM-AJAY grievance

• Gram Panchayat and the Village Convergence and Monitoring Committee, for disputes about what was included in the Village Development Plan.
• District Social Welfare Officer, for delays in sanctioned works or beneficiary selection.
• State Social Justice / SC Welfare Department, the nodal implementing authority for all three components.
• National Helpline Against Atrocities (SCs/STs): 14566, for discrimination and atrocity complaints, which are handled separately from PM-AJAY.
• pgportal.gov.in. The central public grievance portal, for written complaints against a central or state department.

No fee is payable to be included in a PM-AJAY village plan or as a project beneficiary. Selection decisions are recorded on the PM-AJAY MIS and can be questioned with the district administration.