Rajasthan Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana

What is the Rajasthan Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana?

Rajasthan Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana is a household medicinal-plant distribution programme announced in the Rajasthan Budget 2021-22 and formally launched on 1 August 2021. The scheme, whose name translates as "medicine in every home", puts four common Ayurvedic herbs into ordinary households free of charge so that families have basic immunity-supporting plants growing at home.

Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana was designed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 period, when demand for Giloy and Tulsi preparations rose sharply and prices in the open market followed. The state's answer was supply rather than subsidy: raise the plants in government nurseries and hand them out.

The Forest Department is the nodal agency for the scheme, working with the Ayurved Department, district collectors, panchayati raj institutions and, in places, industry partners. District-level task forces headed by the respective District Collectors were constituted to run the campaign, which is why local distribution dates vary from district to district.

Key numbers

• 8 saplings per family per round; two each of four species.
• 24 saplings per family planned across the five-year scheme period.
• Rs 210 crore sanctioned for the full five years.
• About Rs 31.4 crore budgeted in the first year for over 5 crore saplings.
• Target coverage of roughly 1.26 crore families in the state, based on the 2011 census household count.

Which plants does the scheme give, and why?

Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana distributes four species, all chosen for hardiness in a dry-climate state and for their standing in Ayurvedic practice:

• Tulsi (holy basil), the most widely grown of the four, already present in many Rajasthan courtyards, used in decoctions for cough and cold.
• Giloy (Guduchi, Tinospora cordifolia), a climber, widely used in immunity-related Ayurvedic preparations.
• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera). A root herb that grows well in arid soil and is one of Rajasthan's traditional cultivated medicinal crops.
• Kalmegh (Andrographis paniculata), a bitter herb used in fever and liver preparations.

Two saplings of each species make up the standard packet of eight. The Forest Department raises them in departmental nurseries ahead of the monsoon so that they are ready for transplanting when rain arrives.

Who is eligible for Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana?

A family can receive saplings if:

• It is a resident family of Rajasthan.
• It holds a Jan Aadhaar card, the state family identification used to log distribution and prevent the same family collecting repeatedly in one round.
• A family member is present at a distribution point during an announced round.

There is no income ceiling, no caste category restriction, no landholding condition and no urban or rural distinction. Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana was built as a universal household scheme, which makes it unusual among Rajasthan welfare programmes.

A person is not eligible and cannot apply if:

• They are not a resident of Rajasthan.
• They are seeking saplings for commercial nursery or trading purposes: the scheme supplies households, not businesses.
• The family has already collected its packet in the current round; a second packet in the same round is refused at the counter.

What documents do you need?

No income certificate, caste certificate, land record or bank account is required, because there is no cash transfer involved.

How to get saplings under Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana

1. Watch for the distribution round announcement from your district collectorate, gram panchayat or municipal ward office, usually made shortly before the monsoon.
2. Find your nearest distribution point. A forest department nursery, a panchayat bhavan camp, a school, an anganwadi centre or a ward-level camp.
3. Carry your Jan Aadhaar card (or Aadhaar card) to the counter and give the number so the staff can record the collection against your family.
4. Collect the packet of 8 saplings, two each of Tulsi, Giloy, Ashwagandha and Kalmegh, at no charge.
5. Plant them at home in pots or in the yard soon after collection, ideally during or just after rain, and water them until they establish.

Some rounds have been run as door-to-door delivery in villages, with forest staff or panchayat volunteers carrying packets to households. Where that is happening in your area, no visit to a nursery is needed at all.

How do you plant and keep the saplings alive?

The Forest Department's practical guidance on the four species is straightforward, and it matters because a sapling that dies in the first month converts the scheme into a waste of public money:

• Tulsi does best in a pot in partial sun with light daily watering; it is the easiest of the four to keep alive in a courtyard.
• Giloy is a climber and needs support. A tree, a wall or a stick, and space to run. It tolerates neglect once established.
• Ashwagandha needs well-drained sandy soil and very little water. It is the species most suited to arid districts and the one most often overwatered to death.
• Kalmegh prefers partial shade and moist soil, and struggles in full desert sun without protection.

Planting immediately after collection during the monsoon is the single biggest factor in survival, which is why the distribution calendar is tied to the rains rather than spread evenly through the year.

When does distribution take place?

Distribution rounds are concentrated in the monsoon months, broadly July to September, when transplant survival is highest. The scheme was launched on 1 August 2021 and planned as a five-year programme with saplings issued in recurring rounds so that a family accumulates about 24 plants over the period.

Exact dates are set district by district by the district task force under the Collector. There is no individual application deadline and no online window to miss; if you miss one round, the next round is the remedy.

Why do families miss out, and what to do?

• No Jan Aadhaar card, the counter cannot record the family. Get a Jan Aadhaar enrolment done free at an eMitra kiosk or on janaadhaar.rajasthan.gov.in.
• Round already closed in your panchayat or ward. Ask the panchayat secretary or the local forest range office when the next round is scheduled.
• Stock exhausted at a particular nursery. Nurseries raise a fixed number of saplings; try the range office or a neighbouring distribution point.
• Someone else in the family already collected. The Jan Aadhaar log is family-wise, not person-wise, so check with the household before travelling.

Where do you ask questions or complain?

• Gram panchayat secretary or ward office, for local distribution dates and points.
• Forest range office in your block, which holds the nursery stock and the distribution schedule.
• District Collectorate, which chairs the district task force for the scheme.
• Rajasthan Sampark on 181 or at sampark.rajasthan.gov.in for a written grievance with a trackable docket number.

Ghar Ghar Aushadhi Yojana saplings are free. No nursery worker, panchayat official or volunteer may charge money for them, and there is no registration fee, agent fee or "list fee" of any kind.