Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified Tribes (SEED)

What is the SEED scheme?

Scheme for Economic Empowerment of De-notified Tribes (SEED) is a Central Sector scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, launched in February 2022 with an outlay of about Rs 200 crore over five years starting FY 2021-22. SEED serves De-notified (DNT), Nomadic (NT) and Semi-Nomadic (SNT) communities, groups that were listed under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 and de-notified in 1952, but which the Renke Commission (2008) and Idate Commission (2018) both found were still outside the reach of mainstream welfare.

According to the SEED guidelines, these communities are often "mostly invisible, thinly spread and many migrating", so the standard village-block-district delivery model does not fit them. SEED's answer is to make DNT/NT/SNT families a separate target group inside existing national programmes, irrespective of whether an individual community is listed as SC, ST or OBC.

The scheme is coordinated by the Development and Welfare Board for De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC), which works with state governments, the National Health Authority and NRLM rather than running its own field machinery. Administrative expenses are capped at about 1% of the total outlay.

Four components

1. Educational empowerment: free coaching for competitive examinations.
2. Health: Rs 5 lakh a year cover routed through Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY.
3. Livelihoods; cluster and institution building through NRLM and the state rural livelihoods missions.
4. Land and housing, construction assistance routed through PMAY/IAY.

Who is eligible for the SEED scheme?

You can apply if:

• You belong to a De-notified, Nomadic or Semi-Nomadic community.
• Your total family income from all sources is Rs 2.50 lakh or less a year.
• You are not availing a similar benefit from any Central or State scheme.

For the coaching component specifically:

• You must have the minimum marks in the qualifying examination prescribed for the competitive exam you want coaching for.
• For Class 12-level exams such as NEET, JEE and CLAT, you must have passed Class 12 or be studying in Class 12 on the date of receiving the benefit.
• For graduate-level exams such as the Civil Services Examination and CAT, you must have completed your bachelor's degree or be in the final year of it.
• Where an exam has Preliminary and Mains stages, priority in selection goes to candidates who have cleared the Preliminary at least once.

You cannot apply if:

• Family income exceeds Rs 2.50 lakh a year.
• You are already drawing a scholarship or coaching benefit under a similar Central or State scheme. A list of beneficiaries is published by the ministry and shared with states specifically to catch duplication.
• You have already taken the SEED coaching benefit twice. The cap is two times in total, regardless of how many attempts the examination itself allows.
• Your application is incomplete. Incomplete applications are summarily rejected, though you may reapply in a later phase.

Income declarations are not accepted on a plain self-declaration: parents or guardians who are self-employed need a certificate from a Revenue Officer not below the rank of Tehsildar, and employed parents need one from their employer, with a consolidated certificate from the Revenue Officer for any additional income.

How much benefit does SEED provide?

Coaching fee ceilings

SEED pays the actual institute fee or the ceiling above, whichever is lower. If the institute charges more, the student has to fund the difference. A minimum of 16 hours of physical coaching per week is mandatory for all these courses.

Stipend and allowances

• Rs 1,500 per month for local students.
• Rs 3,000 per month for outstation students.
• Paid for the course duration or one year, whichever is less, directly by DBT.
• Rs 2,000 per month special allowance for students with 40% or more disability, towards reader, escort and helper costs — over and above the stipend.

Health cover

DWBDNC pays central assistance to the National Health Authority so that eligible DNT, NT and SNT families are enrolled under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and receive Rs 5 lakh per family per year of cashless secondary and tertiary hospitalisation, free of premium. States can register these households under the State Health Agency assurance model using SECC deprivation criteria such as D1 (houseless or one kucha room), D4 (a disabled member with no able-bodied adult) and D7 (landless households living on manual casual labour), or the urban occupational categories such as rag-pickers, street vendors, construction workers and sanitation workers.

Livelihoods and housing

Livelihood support is delivered through the National Rural Livelihoods Mission and the State Rural Livelihoods Missions, which mobilise DNT/NT/SNT clusters into self-help groups and community-based organisations. Housing assistance is routed through PMAY/IAY. Neither component has a separate SEED application form. The state social welfare department identifies clusters and families and hands them to the SRLM or the housing programme.

What documents are required for SEED?

How to apply for SEED coaching

1. Wait for the application window, the portal opens for one month twice a year, in July and January.
2. Go to coaching.dosje.gov.in, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment's coaching portal, and register.
3. Fill the online form, naming the competitive examination and the course you intend to join.
4. Upload the community certificate, income certificate, qualifying-exam marksheet, bank details and both affidavits. Offline applications are not accepted and incomplete ones are rejected outright.
5. Submit before the window closes and save the acknowledgement.
6. Wait for the merit list. The IT system draws up separate merit lists for Class 12-level and graduate-level exams, in decreasing order of qualifying marks, and a Screening Committee of DWBDNC recommends the final selection.
7. On selection, download the "Open Assurance" letter showing your name, rank and sanctioned fee, and use it to approach a coaching institute empanelled under the Free Coaching Scheme for SC and OBC students.
8. Upload the institute's admission confirmation. The first instalment of 50% of the sanctioned fee is released to your account immediately after.
9. Join the course within six months and upload proof of joining plus proof that the first instalment was paid to the institute. The balance is then reimbursed.

If the first instalment is not paid to an institute within six months, the money must be returned to the government and the second instalment is forfeited.

How to access the other SEED components

1. For health cover, check your family's PM-JAY status at a Common Service Centre or an empanelled hospital's Ayushman Mitra desk; ask the state social welfare department to have your household added to the SHA list of DNT/NT/SNT beneficiaries if it is missing.
2. For livelihoods, approach the State Rural Livelihoods Mission block office or the local SHG federation, which mobilises identified DNT/NT/SNT clusters.
3. For housing, apply under PMAY-Gramin or PMAY-Urban through the usual route and ensure your DNT/NT/SNT status is recorded.

Important dates for SEED

• Scheme period: five years from FY 2021-22, outlay about Rs 200 crore.
• Coaching portal: open one month in July and one month in January each year.
• Selection: 625 students per phase, 1,250 in a year.
• Institute joining deadline: six months from the first instalment.

Common reasons SEED applications are rejected

• Income certificate not from the prescribed authority, a plain self-declaration or a certificate below Tehsildar rank is not accepted.
• Income above Rs 2.50 lakh a year.
• Already availing a similar scheme, caught through the published beneficiary list shared with states.
• Third application for the coaching benefit, the cap is two.
• Incomplete upload of affidavits or marksheets.
• Low qualifying marks relative to other applicants, since selection is strictly in merit order within the available slots.

Where to get help with SEED

DWBDNC coordinates SEED and publishes the guidelines, notices and beneficiary lists at dwbdnc.dosje.gov.in. Coaching queries go through the coaching.dosje.gov.in portal; health, livelihood and housing queries go to the State Health Agency, the State Rural Livelihoods Mission and the PMAY implementing agency respectively. No dedicated toll-free helpline has been published for SEED, and there is no fee for applying.

Readers may also find the guides to Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, DAY-NRLM, PMAY-Gramin and the SMILE scheme on this site useful, since SEED delivers three of its four components through those programmes.