Samarth Respite Care Statistics: Beneficiaries and Spending by Year
· 1 min read · 2 official sources
The National Trust's Samarth scheme gave respite care to 1,937 persons with disabilities through 45 centres between 2014-15 and 2022-23, spending Rs 12.62 crore, according to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. Only 12 centres were running in 2023. Year-wise spending and beneficiary counts are below.
Samarth - Respite Care Scheme (The National Trust): key numbers
Infographic
Samarth spending and beneficiaries, 2014-15 to 2022-23
Money spent and number of beneficiaries under the Samarth respite care scheme in each year, as published by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in May 2023.
| Year | Spent (Rs crore) | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 0.07 | 4 |
| 2015-16 | 0.41 | 83 |
| 2016-17 | 2.50 | 404 |
| 2017-18 | 3.05 | 432 |
| 2018-19 | 1.13 | 211 |
| 2019-20 | 0.78 | 111 |
| 2020-21 | 1.35 | 160 |
| 2021-22 | 1.53 | 311 |
| 2022-23 | 1.80 | 221 |
Source: static.pib.gov.in, as on 19 May 2023
How a family gets Samarth respite care
What the numbers show
Samarth is The National Trust's respite and residential care scheme for people with autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability or multiple disabilities. A report by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, released in May 2023, says the scheme gave respite home care to 1,937 persons through 45 Samarth centres over nine years, with Rs 12.62 crore spent. By the time of the report, only 12 centres were still running.
The trend over the years
Samarth grew from 4 beneficiaries in 2014-15 to 432 in 2017-18, when spending peaked at Rs 3.05 crore. It then dropped sharply to 211 in 2018-19 and 111 in 2019-20. The fall came after April 2018, when 12 registered organisations that ran more than one scheme moved to the merged Samarth-cum-Gharaunda residential scheme. Numbers recovered to 311 in 2021-22 before slipping to 221 in 2022-23.
The merged residential scheme
Samarth-cum-Gharaunda combines respite care with lifelong residential care for adults. The same report says it housed 1,362 adults with disabilities through 13 centres, with Rs 10.84 crore spent. These centres are counted separately from the 1,937 Samarth beneficiaries.
What the figures do not tell you
The beneficiary count for each year may include people who stayed across more than one year. The report does not give a state-wise split, and the figures stop at 2022-23. A PIB list from August 2024 names the Samarth centres then running, but does not give beneficiary numbers.
Where to check the latest numbers
The National Trust lists its registered organisations and Samarth centres at thenationaltrust.gov.in. Updated counts appear in the Department's annual reports and in parliamentary replies.
Frequently asked questions
How many people have benefited from the Samarth scheme?
Samarth gave respite home care to 1,937 persons with disabilities who were orphaned, abandoned or from families in crisis between 2014-15 and 2022-23, according to a May 2023 report of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
How many Samarth centres are there?
45 Samarth centres ran at some point between 2014-15 and 2022-23, but only 12 were running when the report was published in May 2023.
How much has been spent on Samarth?
Rs 12.62 crore was spent under Samarth from 2014-15 to 2022-23. Yearly spending ranged from Rs 0.07 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 3.05 crore in 2017-18.
What is Samarth-cum-Gharaunda?
It is a merged residential scheme that 12 registered organisations took up from 1 April 2018. It housed 1,362 adults with disabilities through 13 centres, with Rs 10.84 crore spent, as per the same report.
Are there newer Samarth figures?
No newer national year-wise figures had been published through PIB as of October 2026. The National Trust website lists current Samarth centres and their contact details.
Eligibility, documents and how to apply: Samarth - Respite Care Scheme (The National Trust) full guide
Charts, data files and the infographic are free to download, share and embed with a link back to this page.
Sources
This guide was checked against these official pages:
- static.pib.gov.in (static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2023/may/doc2023519200501)
- thenationaltrust.gov.in (thenationaltrust.gov.in/content/scheme/samarth.php)