Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana

What is Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana?

Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana is a skill and self-reliance scheme of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Government of Rajasthan, for children who have been supported under the state's Palanhar Yojana. Palanhar Yojana covers orphans, children of parents sentenced to death or life imprisonment, children of pensioned widows, children of HIV/AIDS-affected or leprosy-affected parents, children of specially-abled parents, children of divorced or deserted women and children of silicosis-affected parents. Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana picks up where that support ends, at age 15, and carries the young person to a trade, a degree or a business of their own.

The scheme runs under the Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana Hetu Sanshodhit Sanchalan Niyam, 2021, the Revised Operating Rules, 2021 to issued by departmental order number F.15(3)(95)Sa.Su/Mu.Hu.Vi Yojana/2020/15706 dated 1 April 2021. These rules replace the original scheme issued through Rajasthan government order number 3706-40 dated 19 January 2012, and take effect across the whole state from the date of issue.

The stated objective has two parts. First, to make Palanhar-benefited boys and girls self-reliant by providing vocational training, technical skill development and technical or higher education. Second, once that training or education is complete, for the department to make its best efforts towards employment prospects and likely earnings for those children.

Who is eligible for Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana?

The eligibility rule is short and strict.

You can be covered if:

• You are a boy or girl benefited under the Palanhar Yojana, and
• You have completed 15 years of age.

You are not eligible if:

• You were never a Palanhar Yojana beneficiary. There is no alternative route into this scheme, it is not a general youth skilling programme.
• You are under 15 years of age.
• You have crossed 21 years of age. The rules cap the benefit at a maximum age of 21 years, or until the relevant course or programme is completed, whichever applies.
• You are applying for the higher-education component while already receiving a scholarship or any grant for higher or technical education from the central or state government. The rules exclude such students expressly.
• You do not meet the minimum qualification and age limits set by the training provider for the trade you want.

What does Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana provide?

The 2021 rules set out three separate components. A beneficiary may move through them in sequence, train, then set up a business, or use only one.

Vocational and technical training

Training is provided through the Rajasthan Skill and Livelihood Development Corporation, Rajasthan Knowledge Corporation Limited (RKCL), Jan Shikshan Sansthan, Industrial Training Institutes, or any training provider recognised by the state or central government. The beneficiary applies for a chosen programme from those run by these institutions.

The department reimburses the prescribed fee and other expenses directly to the training institution after the beneficiary is admitted. Where the beneficiary wishes to use the institution's hostel or any other facility; mess fee, stationery and dress fee. Those are reimbursed too. A beneficiary may be given the benefit of a maximum of two training programmes. The institution issues a training certificate on completion.

Higher and technical education

The department gives financial assistance for higher or technical education matched to the beneficiary's ability and desired employment. The course fee fixed by the institution is reimbursed, through the beneficiary's own bank savings account.

The education must be at a university, college or technical educational institution recognised by the Government of India or the state government. Support is available for general, higher and technical education alike, including graduate and postgraduate study. The claim must be filed within a maximum of three months from the date of admission, with the admission receipt attached.

Self-employment and business

A beneficiary who qualifies gets assistance to set up a self-employment venture related to the course in which training was received. The grant is limited to Rs 50,000, or the actual or estimated cost, whichever is less. A figure the rules allow the state government to raise from time to time.

Payment is in two instalments. The first instalment is 60 per cent of the total, released to set up the shop or premises or to buy equipment and raw material. After the beneficiary has made those arrangements, an officer appointed by the department inspects and reports, and the balance is then paid. The money goes into the beneficiary's own bank savings account.

The self-employment benefit is available until the beneficiary turns 21, or for a maximum of one year from the date the course was completed.

What documents are required?

The application format is published on the department's scheme page along with the 2021 rules and a fee-capping letter.

How to apply for Mukhyamantri Hunar Vikas Yojana

1. Confirm that you are recorded as a Palanhar Yojana beneficiary and that you have completed 15 years of age.
2. Choose your route, a vocational or technical training programme, a higher or technical education course, or a self-employment venture after training.
3. Download the application format from the scheme page on sje.rajasthan.gov.in, or collect it from the district office of the Social Justice and Empowerment Department.
4. Attach the supporting documents. For a training claim, apply for admission to a programme run by RSLDC, RKCL, a Jan Shikshan Sansthan, an ITI or another recognised provider. For an education claim, attach the admission receipt and file within three months of admission. For a self-employment claim, attach a copy of the Udyog Aadhaar portal registration certificate.
5. Submit the application to the District Officer, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, at your district headquarters.
6. The District Officer examines the application within a maximum of one month, issues the administrative and financial sanction, and makes payment.

Who runs the scheme and how is it monitored?

At state level the implementing agency is the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Rajasthan, Jaipur. At district level the Deputy Director or Assistant Director of the department is the implementing officer. The Commissioner or Director of the department is competent to handle administrative work, grant sanctions and other related work.

Monitoring is written into the rules. The District Officer shares the list of children who have received vocational or technical training with government and non-government organisations in the district that provide employment, so the children can be linked to employment activity. Follow-up is done during and after each programme, so that problems can be resolved. The Commissioner, Director, Deputy Director, Assistant Director or an authorised officer inspects the training and education being provided, both on schedule and unannounced, assesses it and issues directions for improvement. Each of these officers sends a copy of the inspection report to the sanctioning officer and to the office concerned.

The department reviews the scheme's implementation annually through the Commissioner or Director. The department may amend the records, inquiry and inspection reports, agreement letters and conditions prescribed under these operating rules from time to time, under state government directions.

Common reasons a claim fails

• Not a Palanhar beneficiary, the single most common reason, because the scheme is often mistaken for a general skilling programme.
• Age above 21 on the date of application.
• Education claim filed late, more than three months after the date of admission.
• Institution not recognised by the Government of India or the state government.
• Already drawing a scholarship from the central or state government for higher or technical education.
• Third training programme claimed, beyond the cap of two.
• Self-employment claim without Udyog Aadhaar registration, or for a business unrelated to the trade trained in.
• Second instalment held up because the inspection could not confirm that the shop, equipment or raw material was actually arranged with the first 60 per cent.

Help and grievance redressal

• Departmental helpdesk: 0141-2226638, weekdays 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
• Email: support.sje@rajasthan.gov.in
• District officer: Deputy Director or Assistant Director, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, at your district headquarters
• Citizen charter disposal period: one month, with the department's District Officer as nodal officer and the Commissioner or Director as controlling authority

Where any difficulty or obstruction arises in receiving the benefit, in interpreting any point of the operating rules, or in any dispute, the decision of the Commissioner or Director, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Rajasthan, is final. The same authority is competent to grant any relaxation in the eligibility or process.