Scheme of Grant-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes

What is the Scheme of Grant-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes?

The Scheme of Grant-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the Welfare of Scheduled Tribes is a Central Sector scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Its purpose is to use the reach of voluntary organisations to deliver services in tribal areas where government machinery is thin: remote blocks, forest fringe villages and hamlets that formal schemes struggle to service.

According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the objective is to enhance the reach of government welfare schemes and fill gaps in service-deficient tribal areas in sectors such as education, health, drinking water, agro-horticultural productivity and the social security net, and to create a favourable environment for the socio-economic upliftment of Scheduled Tribes.

Main features

• Central Sector scheme, fully funded by the Government of India.
• The grant is generally restricted to 90% of the approved project cost; the organisation bears the remaining 10%.
• Applications are online only, through the Ministry's NGO portal at ngo.tribal.gov.in. Physical proposals are not accepted.
• NGO Darpan registration with NITI Aayog and a valid NGO Unique ID are prerequisites.
• Proposals are routed through the State Committee for Support of Voluntary Efforts (SCSVE) of the concerned state or union territory.

Who is eligible for the Grant-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations scheme?

An organisation can apply if:

• It is a registered voluntary organisation or NGO; under the Societies Registration Act, a state public trusts Act, or as a Section 8 company.
• Its memorandum and bye-laws include the conduct and promotion of social welfare, and specifically work for Scheduled Tribes.
• It is registered on NGO Darpan and holds a valid NGO Unique ID.
• It has audited accounts and annual reports establishing a track record and financial discipline.
• It can put in the 10% own share of the project cost.
• It works in an area with a Scheduled Tribe population that the project will serve.

Who cannot apply:

• Individuals cannot apply. A tribal family, student or social worker is not eligible for a personal grant under this scheme. Individual benefits for ST citizens come through the pre-matric and post-matric scholarships, the national fellowship and overseas scholarship schemes, and state schemes.
• Unregistered groups and informal collectives are not eligible, however genuine their work.
• For-profit companies and firms are outside the scope of the scheme.
• Organisations without an NGO Darpan unique ID cannot even open a proposal on the portal.
• Organisations with pending utilisation certificates or adverse inspection findings on earlier grants are not considered for fresh sanction.

What documents does an NGO need?

How to apply for the Grant-in-Aid to Voluntary Organisations scheme

1. Register the organisation on NGO Darpan at the NITI Aayog portal and obtain the NGO Unique ID. Keep the registration details, PAN and office bearer details consistent with your registration certificate.
2. Create the organisation's login on ngo.tribal.gov.in, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs NGO portal, using the NGO Darpan unique ID.
3. Fill the project proposal online, sector, location, number of Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, staffing pattern, recurring and non-recurring cost, and the organisation's own 10% contribution.
4. Upload the supporting documents: registration certificate, memorandum and bye-laws, audited accounts and annual reports, and bank details.
5. Submit the proposal, which is routed to the State or UT Tribal Welfare Department. District-level officers inspect the project site and scrutinise the proposal.
6. The State Committee for Support of Voluntary Efforts (SCSVE) considers the proposal, records its recommendation and uploads the minutes on the portal.
7. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs appraises the recommended proposal and issues the sanction; the grant is released to the organisation's bank account.
8. File utilisation certificates, audited accounts and progress reports, these are required both for subsequent instalments and for any renewal.

Proposals must be filed in the window the Ministry opens on the portal for the financial year. Track the portal rather than waiting for individual intimation.

What projects does the scheme support?

Sanctioned projects fall into broad sector-wise categories that address service gaps in tribal areas:

• Education: running and maintaining residential and non-residential schools and hostels for ST children.
• Health — dispensaries, mobile medical units and health awareness work in tribal blocks.
• Drinking water and basic sanitation interventions.
• Livelihoods, agro-horticultural productivity, vocational and computer training centres.
• Social security net activities that connect tribal families to existing government entitlements.

The Ministry decides the sanctioned mix each year; a project is funded on its merits and on the state committee's recommendation, not by category quota.

Conditions attached to the grant

• The organisation must contribute 10% of the approved cost from its own resources.
• Grants are released project-wise, and continuation in the next year is not automatic.
• Utilisation certificates and audited statements are compulsory; pending certificates block further release.
• Projects are open to inspection by district officers and the state committee.
• Staff salaries and other recurring costs are admissible only within the sanctioned pattern.

Related routes and where to get help

• Ministry's NGO portal: ngo.tribal.gov.in, proposals, status and formats.
• tribal.nic.in/NGO.aspx; scheme information and guidelines.
• State Tribal Welfare Department, the point of contact for inspection, state committee scheduling and proposal status.

For state-level infrastructure, the Ministry funds governments separately through Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution; NGOs are not eligible under that head. Both guides are on this site.

No fee is payable for filing a proposal, and no consultant can guarantee a sanction. Every proposal has to pass district inspection and the state committee.

How to check your application status

There is no citizen-facing SMS or single-window tracking number for this scheme, because the applicant is an organisation, not an individual, and the process runs through the Ministry's own NGO portal and state machinery. An organisation should track its proposal this way.

1. Log in to ngo.tribal.gov.in with the credentials created at the time of proposal submission. The dashboard for a registered organisation shows the current stage of each proposal filed, such as submitted, under district scrutiny, before the state committee, or forwarded to the Ministry.
2. Check for any query or deficiency memo raised against the proposal on the same portal login. Proposals are frequently held up at district or state level pending a document or clarification, and the onus is on the organisation to respond promptly rather than wait.
3. Follow up with the District Tribal Welfare Officer if the proposal appears stuck at the inspection stage. District officers scrutinise the project site and forward their report; a proposal that has not moved for an unusual length of time at this stage is best chased offline with the district office, since the portal will not explain the delay.
4. Follow up with the State Tribal Welfare Department once the proposal reaches the State Committee for Support of Voluntary Efforts (SCSVE) stage. The committee meets periodically rather than continuously, so status at this stage often just means waiting for the next scheduled meeting; the state department can confirm the meeting calendar.
5. Watch for the sanction order and the bank credit once the Ministry appraises a state-recommended proposal. There is no published turnaround time, so an organisation should treat "still under appraisal" as normal rather than assume something has gone wrong, and use the portal login as the primary source of truth rather than relying on phone calls to the Ministry, since there is no dedicated citizen helpline for this scheme.
6. For an already-sanctioned and ongoing project, the working proxy for "status" is whether the utilisation certificate for the previous instalment has been accepted; the portal login shows whether a UC is pending, and a pending UC is what actually blocks the next release or the next year's renewal, more often than any processing delay.

Common reasons for rejection

Because the applicant is an institution and the process is multi-layered, rejections in this scheme cluster around organisational eligibility, documentation and inspection findings rather than simple form errors.

• No NGO Darpan unique ID, or a mismatch in NGO Darpan details. The portal will not accept a proposal without a valid NITI Aayog NGO Darpan ID, and even where the ID exists, a mismatch between the name, address or office-bearer details on NGO Darpan and on the registration certificate causes proposals to be sent back. Fix: reconcile NGO Darpan records with the registration certificate before filing, and update NGO Darpan first if the two disagree.
• Memorandum or bye-laws do not clearly cover Scheduled Tribe or social welfare work. If the organisation's stated objects are generic or focused on an unrelated activity, the project is treated as outside the organisation's mandate. Fix: amend the memorandum through the proper registration authority so that ST welfare or social welfare is explicitly listed as an object, before applying, since this cannot be fixed after submission.
• Weak or missing audited accounts and track record. An organisation with no audited accounts, accounts for only one year instead of the usual three, or accounts that do not tally with the bank statements submitted, is seen as a financial risk and is not recommended by the state committee. Fix: get accounts audited every year regardless of whether a proposal is pending, so a track record is always ready.
• Inability to demonstrate the 10% own contribution. Because the grant covers up to 90% of project cost, the organisation must show it can fund the remaining 10%; a proposal with no credible source for this share, no reserve funds and no explanation of how the co-contribution will be met is generally not recommended. Fix: state the source of the 10% share explicitly in the proposal, whether it is the organisation's own reserves, another grant or in-kind contribution.
• Adverse district inspection findings or an unsuitable project site. If the district inspection finds the proposed site unsuitable, the beneficiary numbers overstated, or facilities already being provided by another government scheme in the same area, the proposal is not recommended forward. Fix: verify there is a genuine service gap in the chosen location before proposing, and ensure the project addresses tribal households not already covered by an existing government facility.
• Pending utilisation certificate on an earlier grant. An organisation that has not submitted the UC, audited accounts and progress report for a previous grant is not considered for a fresh sanction, regardless of how strong the new proposal is. Fix: close out UCs for every earlier project before or alongside filing a new proposal; this is one of the most common reasons an otherwise eligible NGO is refused a renewal or a new grant.
• Proposal filed outside the Ministry's open window, or through an offline channel. Applications are online only through ngo.tribal.gov.in; a proposal sent by post, email or filed after the portal's proposal window has closed for the financial year is not processed. Fix: track the portal for the annual window and file within it, rather than approaching the Ministry directly.
• Proposal for an ineligible applicant type. Individuals, unregistered groups, and for-profit companies or firms are outside the scope of the scheme, so proposals from these applicants are rejected outright at the eligibility stage. Fix: this scheme is not the correct route for an individual tribal beneficiary; check the site's guide to ST scholarships and individual welfare schemes instead.