Providing Mini Tractor and its Sub Parts to the Self Help Group of Scheduled Castes

What is the mini tractor scheme for Scheduled Caste self help groups?

Providing Mini Tractor and its Sub Parts to the Self Help Group of Scheduled Castes is a scheme of the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra. According to the department's scheme page, the scheme supplies a mini tractor along with its accessories, a cultivator or rotavator and a trailer; to registered self help groups whose members belong to the Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist communities.

The purpose is economic, not agricultural alone. Small farm holdings in these communities cannot individually justify a tractor, and hiring one at peak season is expensive and often unavailable. A group-owned mini tractor lets members plough their own plots on time and earn rental income from neighbouring farms in the rest of the season, which is why the department frames the scheme as raising the economic level of Scheduled Caste and Neo-Buddhist families rather than as a crop subsidy.

Main features

• Package cost fixed at Rs 3.50 lakh.
• Government subsidy of 90 per cent, up to Rs 3.15 lakh.
• Group contribution of 10 per cent, about Rs 35,000.
• Asset supplied is a mini tractor (commonly in the 9 to 18 HP class) with a cultivator or rotavator and a trailer.
• Benefit goes to the group, and the machine is owned and used collectively.
• Selection by lottery when applications exceed the district target.

Who is eligible for the mini tractor scheme?

A group can apply if:

• It is a registered self help group functioning in Maharashtra.
• At least 80 per cent of its members belong to the Scheduled Caste or Neo-Buddhist community.
• The chairperson and the secretary of the group are both from the Scheduled Caste or Neo-Buddhist category.
• All members are residents of Maharashtra and can show residence proof.
• The group has an active bank account in the group's name and can put in the 10 per cent contribution.
• The group has not already received a mini tractor under this or any similar government scheme.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual farmer, however small your holding. The scheme has no individual benefit and an individual application is not eligible.
• Your group is not registered, or exists only on paper without meetings, minutes and a group bank account.
• Less than 80 per cent of the members are Scheduled Caste or Neo-Buddhist, or the office bearers are from another category.
• Members are not residents of Maharashtra.
• The group has already been supplied a mini tractor in an earlier round.
• The group cannot deposit its 10 per cent share, since the subsidy is released only against the group's own contribution.

Groups from other categories are not covered by this particular scheme. Similar group and individual mechanisation support exists elsewhere. The Tribal Development Department runs parallel schemes for Scheduled Tribes, and the Agriculture Department funds farm machinery for all categories through the MahaDBT portal.

How much does the mini tractor scheme pay?

The subsidy is a capped amount, not a percentage of whatever the group spends. If the group buys a costlier tractor, the extra cost is entirely on the group. If the package costs less than Rs 3.50 lakh, the subsidy is 90 per cent of the actual cost.

Payment is routed through the district Social Welfare office against the purchase of an approved package. The group first deposits its 10 per cent share; the subsidy portion is then released so the supply can be completed. The machine is a group asset. It cannot be transferred to a member's personal name or sold in the period fixed by the department's conditions.

What documents are required for the mini tractor application?

Keep several photocopy sets. District offices typically ask for one set attached to the application and one for the verification file.

How to apply for the mini tractor scheme

1. Confirm the group qualifies — check that at least 80 per cent of members are Scheduled Caste or Neo-Buddhist and that the chairperson and secretary are from that category.
2. Pass a resolution in a group meeting deciding to apply and authorising the chairperson or secretary to sign and submit the application.
3. Collect the documents listed above: registration proof, caste certificates, Aadhaar, residence proof, group passbook and photographs.
4. Watch for the year's notice. The Social Justice and Special Assistance Department releases a district-wise target and announces the application window through the district Social Welfare office and the department portal.
5. Fill the prescribed application form, attach self-attested copies of every document, and submit it to the Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare of your district within the announced window. When an online window is notified, file the same application through the department's online link and keep the acknowledgement.
6. Attend verification if the office calls the group for document check or a visit.
7. Wait for the lottery result if applications exceed the target, and check the selection list published by the district office.
8. Deposit the group's 10 per cent share after selection and complete the purchase or supply formalities as directed by the district office.

How do I check the status of a mini tractor application?

1. Ask the Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare office in your district for the status of your application number and the date of the lottery.
2. Watch the notices and tenders section of the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department website and the district collectorate website, where selection lists are published.
3. Where the department has opened an online application window, log in to the same portal with your application credentials to see whether the application is submitted, verified, selected or rejected.

Why do mini tractor applications get rejected?

• Group composition fails the 80 per cent test, or office bearers are not from the Scheduled Caste or Neo-Buddhist category.
• Caste certificates missing or issued by the wrong authority.
• Group registration not produced, or the group cannot show minutes and a functioning account.
• Bank account in a member's personal name instead of the group's name.
• Earlier benefit, the group already received a mini tractor.
• Application filed after the window closed, or filed at the wrong office.
• Not selected in the lottery, which is not a rejection on merit. The group can apply again in the next round.
• 10 per cent contribution not deposited within the time given after selection, which causes the sanction to lapse.

The most common avoidable failure is an incomplete document set. District offices scrutinise strictly because the subsidy per group is large and the target per district is small.

What are the conditions after the tractor is supplied?

The mini tractor and its accessories remain the property of the self help group. Departmental conditions require the group to keep the asset in working use, to maintain it, and not to sell or transfer it during the prescribed lock-in period. The group is expected to record its use and any hire income in the group's books. Misuse or unauthorised sale can lead to recovery of the subsidy amount.

Where do I get help or complain?

• Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare in your district. The applying, verifying and grievance authority for this scheme.
• Commissionerate of Social Welfare, Pune, which supervises the district offices and publishes scheme circulars.
• Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, Government of Maharashtra, for policy-level grievances.

There is no application fee for this scheme and no agent can secure selection. If someone offers to fix a lottery result or arrange a sanction for a commission, report it in writing to the district Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare.