Distribution of Free House Sites to Scheduled Caste / Other Economically Backward Classes, Puducherry

What is the Distribution of Free House Sites scheme?

Distribution of Free House Sites to Scheduled Caste / Other Economically Backward Classes is a housing scheme of the Adi Dravidar Welfare and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department, Government of Puducherry. The department cites the governing rule as the provision of house sites and houses to Scheduled Castes, 1981.

The department states the objective directly: to provide free house sites to homeless poor Scheduled Caste people and other economically backward class people, at the ratio of 80:20, to enable them to construct their own houses. Eighty per cent of the sites go to Scheduled Caste applicants and twenty per cent to other economically backward applicants, which is why the scheme name carries both groups.

Land in the Union Territory of Puducherry is expensive and scarce. For a family that has never owned anything, the site itself; not the building materials; is the barrier to a permanent house. The scheme removes that barrier by allotting the plot free of cost, and then expects the family to build on it. The department's wider brief is to improve the socio-economic condition of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe households and to provide civic amenities in SC and ST habitations.

The department's related housing and civic schemes

• Grant of House Construction Subsidy to Scheduled Caste people, support for the construction itself, once a site exists.
• Financial assistance to construct a sanitary latrine.
• Providing civic amenities to Scheduled Caste areas, including infrastructure works executed through PADCO.
• Grant of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Award for clean houses, which gives household articles worth Rs 500 to selected Scheduled Caste beneficiaries who keep their homes clean.

A family that gets a site under this scheme should look next at the house construction subsidy and the sanitary latrine assistance, since the three are designed to work in sequence.

Who is eligible for a free house site?

The department publishes four conditions.

You can apply if:

• You are a citizen of India and a native or permanent resident of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Your annual family income does not exceed Rs 2,00,000.
• You are a homeless person, and no member of your family owns a house or a house site.
• You have a bona fide intention to construct a house within a period of two years.

Scheduled Caste applicants compete for the 80 per cent share and other economically backward applicants for the 20 per cent share, so the scheme is not restricted to Scheduled Caste families alone.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not an Indian citizen, or you are not a native or permanent resident of Puducherry.
• Your annual family income is above Rs 2,00,000.
• You or any member of your family already owns a house or a house site, anywhere. A second site for a family that already has land is outside the scheme's purpose.
• You have no intention of building within two years. The site is allotted for construction, not to be held or transferred.

Because the homelessness test looks at the whole family and not only the applicant, families sometimes come unstuck where a plot stands in the name of a spouse or a dependent adult member. It is worth checking the family's records before applying.

What documents are required?

The department's published enclosure list is short:

The caste, income and residence-cum-nativity certificates are issued by the Revenue Department, and the department's wording; "Caste/Income/ Residence-cum-nativity certificate issued by the competent authority" — means all three must come from that source rather than from a local body or an association.

How to apply for a free house site in Puducherry

1. Obtain the certificates first. Apply to the Revenue authorities for your caste certificate, income certificate and residence-cum-nativity certificate. These take the longest, so start here.
2. Collect the application form. The Adi Dravidar Welfare Department publishes Housing Schemes Related Applications and an Integrated Application for 5 schemes for download on adwelfare.py.gov.in, and forms are available at the departmental office at Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605 009.
3. Complete the application with your family details, and state clearly that no member of the family owns a house or a house site.
4. Attach the enclosures; proof of identity and the caste, income and residence-cum-nativity certificates, and sign the undertaking to construct within two years.
5. Submit the application at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department office and take an acknowledgement. Applicants in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam should submit through the departmental office or the regional administration in their region.
6. Wait for the selection committee. The department processes applications individually or in a consolidated manner and places them for consideration as and when the committee for selection of beneficiaries is convened, taking the area into account.

How the selection works

There is no first-come-first-served queue. The department's own description is that the application will be processed in the office, individually or in a consolidated manner, and placed before the beneficiary selection committee when that committee meets for the area concerned. Availability of government land in your area therefore drives the timing as much as the merits of your application.

This is worth setting expectations on. A complete application does not guarantee an allotment in any particular year; it puts the family on the list the committee considers when sites in that area come up for distribution.

How to check the status of your application

The department does not run a public online tracker for this scheme. Follow up in person at the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department office at Thattanchavady with your acknowledgement, or write to the Director. The department does publish orders, notice-board items and beneficiary-related notifications on adwelfare.py.gov.in, so it is worth checking the Notice Board and Orders sections periodically.

Common reasons an application is rejected

• Family already owns a house or house site. The commonest ground, and the hardest to argue against once the records show it.
• Income certificate above Rs 2,00,000 a year.
• Certificates issued by the wrong authority. Caste, income and residence certificates must come from the competent Revenue authority.
• No nativity or permanent residence in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• No credible intention to construct within two years, for instance where the applicant states an intention to sell or lease the site.
• Incomplete enclosures, which means the file is not placed before the committee at all.

Where to get help or raise a grievance

• The Director, Adi Dravidar Welfare and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Department, Thattanchavady, Puducherry - 605 009 to phone 0413-2275681, 0413-2275682 and 0413-2276375, email adwel.pon@nic.in.
• Secretary to Government (ADW & STW), Chief Secretariat, Puducherry - 605 001 to email secywel.pon@nic.in.
• The department links CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in from its own website for written grievances.

No fee is charged for the application, and no payment to any intermediary can influence the selection committee. Allotments are made from government land under the 1981 provision, and any demand for money in exchange for a site should be reported to the Director.