Sero Positive Illness Scheme

What is the Sero Positive Illness Scheme?

The Sero Positive Illness Scheme is a Gujarat state scholarship for students whose education is at risk because of HIV in the family. The scheme has been implemented since 2009 by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat, and is administered by the Director, Social Defence as part of the department's child welfare group of schemes.

According to the Director, Social Defence, the scheme covers a student in one of three situations: the student is sero-positive, one parent is sero-positive, or both parents are sero-positive. The support is deliberately structured as an education scholarship rather than a medical benefit, because medical treatment itself is already free through the state's Anti-Retroviral Therapy centres. What the family loses is earning capacity, and it is the children's schooling that usually stops first.

The scheme pays a monthly amount in the school years and an annual amount from Std 11 onwards, with a higher rate for students living in hostels. The intent is to keep the child in school through Std 10 and then to keep the higher-education route open through degree, professional and postgraduate courses.

Key features

• Running since 2009 under the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Covers Std 1 through postgraduate and professional courses.
• Pays a uniform allowance of Rs 1,500 a year in Std 1 to 10, on top of the monthly scholarship.
• Higher rates for hostellers from Std 11 onwards.
• Applications are approved district-wise by a Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee.

How much does the Sero Positive Illness Scheme pay?

Read the school rates carefully. The Std 1 to 5 rate of Rs 500 a month is paid for 10 months, not 12, so the annual scholarship is Rs 5,000 plus the Rs 1,500 uniform allowance, a total of Rs 6,500. In Std 6 to 10 the same arithmetic gives Rs 10,000 plus Rs 1,500, a total of Rs 11,500 for the year.

From Std 11 the structure changes to a single annual figure. The gap between the day-scholar and hosteller rate is large — Rs 4,000 against Rs 10,000 in Std 11 and 12, so a student who has genuinely moved into a hostel should make sure the hostel admission certificate is in the file, otherwise the lower rate is sanctioned.

Who is eligible for the Sero Positive Illness Scheme?

A student can receive the scholarship if:

• The student is studying in a school or college in Gujarat.
• The student is sero-positive, or one parent is sero-positive, or both parents are sero-positive.
• The sero-positive status is documented, with treatment taken at a government Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) centre, usually at the district civil hospital, and an ART registration card, commonly called the green card, is available.
• The student is actually attending the course claimed for, evidenced by a bonafide certificate from the institution.

A student cannot apply, or is not eligible, if:

• Neither the student nor either parent is sero-positive. The scheme has no general poverty or orphan category; the status is the qualifying condition.
• The sero-positive status is not documented through an ART centre. A private laboratory report on its own is not the proof the district office works from.
• The student has discontinued studies. Payment is tied to continued enrolment, and a break in study stops the scholarship for that year.
• The student is studying outside Gujarat in a course not covered by the sanction of the Director, Social Defence.

The Director, Social Defence page frames eligibility around sero-positive status and continued schooling rather than an income slab. Some districts nonetheless ask for an income certificate as part of the file, so check with your District Social Defence Officer before assembling documents.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Sero Positive Illness Scheme

The Sero Positive Illness Scheme is an offline, district-level scheme. There is no self-service online form on e-Samaj Kalyan for it, and applications are approved by a district committee.

1. Visit the office of the District Social Defence Officer or the District Child Protection Officer in your district and ask for the Sero Positive Illness Scheme application form. The form is also published as a PDF on the Director, Social Defence pages of sje.gujarat.gov.in.
2. Get the ART centre certificate for the sero-positive person, whether that is the student or a parent, from the civil hospital where treatment is taken, and keep the green card ready.
3. Get the bonafide certificate from the school or college, stating the standard or course, the academic year and that the student is currently enrolled and attending.
4. Fill the form with the student's details, the course, and the bank account details, attaching the Aadhaar card, bank passbook copy, residence proof and, for hostellers from Std 11, the hostel admission certificate.
5. Submit the completed file at the District Social Defence Officer's office and take an acknowledgement with the date of submission.
6. Wait for the district committee. The Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee in each district scrutinises the applications and approves the sanction. The scholarship is then released to the bank account.

How to check the status of your application

1. Note the inward or acknowledgement number given when you submit the file. Nothing can be traced without it.
2. Call or visit the District Social Defence Officer's office and ask whether the file has gone to the Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee, and when the committee last met.
3. Check the bank passbook for a credit at the end of the sanction cycle rather than expecting a monthly credit on a fixed date; school-level payments are commonly released in consolidated instalments.
4. For an unresolved case, contact the Director, Social Defence office in Gandhinagar on 079-23256309.

Why applications get rejected

• No ART centre documentation. A test report alone, or a private hospital letter, is the most frequent reason a file is returned.
• Bonafide certificate missing or out of date, particularly when a student changes school or college mid-year.
• Bank account not in a usable name, for example a joint account of a relative, or an account that has gone dormant.
• Hosteller rate claimed without a hostel certificate, which results in the lower day-scholar rate being sanctioned rather than an outright rejection.
• Break in study, since the scholarship is tied to actual enrolment for the year claimed.
• Application submitted after the district committee has closed its list for the academic year, which pushes the case into the next cycle.

Key dates and payment timing

The Director, Social Defence has not published a hard last date for the Sero Positive Illness Scheme. In practice the district office collects applications through the academic year and puts them before the Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committee in batches, so the practical advice is to apply as soon as the school year starts and the bonafide certificate is available, rather than waiting for a notified window.

Help and grievance redressal

• Director, Social Defence, Block 16, Ground Floor, Dr Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Sector 10, Gandhinagar 382010. Phone 079-23256309.
• District Social Defence Officer or District Child Protection Officer in your district, for anything to do with a specific application.
• Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Block 5, 8th floor, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, for a written grievance against a district decision.

The scheme is free to apply for. No fee is payable to any officer, agent or intermediary for the form, for the district committee's approval, or for release of the scholarship, and the family's medical information is handled by the district office rather than by the school.