SMILE - Skill Development and Training for Transgender Persons

What is the SMILE skill development component?

SMILE, Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise, is an umbrella scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. Its Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons sub-scheme includes a dedicated Skill Development and Training component that gives transgender persons free, market-linked vocational training so they can earn a living with dignity. The component is delivered online through the National Portal for Transgender Persons.

According to the scheme details published on National Government portals, the training is free for all participants, comes with a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 for non-residential courses, and is backed by post-placement support and self-employment assistance through the training institutions. Importantly, there is no income criterion for selection, the scheme is open to any certified transgender person in the eligible age band, regardless of family income.

Key features

• Free training in market-oriented trades chosen by the candidate.
• Stipend of Rs 1,000 per month for non-residential training, paid by DBT.
• Two course formats: short-term (about 200 to 600 hours, up to 6 months) and long-term (5 or more months, up to around 1,000 hours).
• Placement and self-employment support after successful completion.

Who is eligible for SMILE skill training?

You can apply if:

• You are a transgender person holding a valid Transgender Certificate from the National Portal for Transgender Persons.
• You are between 18 and 45 years of age.
• You can maintain at least 80% live attendance in the course.
• You are not receiving a similar training benefit from another scheme.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not hold a Transgender Certificate from the national portal — this is the one mandatory qualification.
• You are outside the 18 to 45 age range.
• You want to enrol in more than one training programme at once; only one programme is allowed at a time.

There is deliberately no income test, so applicants do not need an income certificate. Selection into a specific course also involves a psychometric assessment to match the candidate to a suitable trade before enrolment.

What documents are required for SMILE skill training?

The Transgender Certificate is the only strictly mandatory document, and it can be applied for free on the same portal, so an applicant who does not yet have it should obtain it first.

How to apply for SMILE skill training

1. Visit the National Portal for Transgender Persons at transgender.dosje.gov.in and, if you do not already have one, apply for your Transgender Certificate / Identity Card (free).
2. Register on the portal and open the skill development / training section.
3. Select your training preferences by state and district, and choose a trade offered by an empanelled training institution.
4. Complete the psychometric assessment used to match you to a suitable course.
5. On selection, enrol in the course, maintain at least 80% live attendance, and receive the Rs 1,000 monthly stipend for non-residential training by Direct Benefit Transfer.
6. After completion, use the post-placement and self-employment support made available through the training institution.

The whole process is online and free. No agent or fee is involved, and the Transgender Certificate obtained on the portal doubles as the identity document for the training.

How does the training lead to work?

The SMILE skill component is built to end in a livelihood, not just a certificate. Courses are market-oriented, chosen from trades with real hiring demand, and successful trainees receive post-placement support to move into jobs and self-employment assistance if they prefer to start their own work. The 80% attendance rule and psychometric matching are meant to keep the training serious and suited to each candidate, improving the chance of actual employment afterwards.

Help and grievance redressal

• National helpline for transgender persons: 8882133133
• National Portal for Transgender Persons: transgender.dosje.gov.in for registration, certificate, training and grievances
• Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, administers the SMILE scheme

Because the SMILE skill component runs entirely through the national portal, most queries, certificate issues, training selection, stipend credits, are handled through the portal's grievance system and the helpline rather than any physical office.

How to check your application status

1. Go to the National Portal for Transgender Persons at transgender.dosje.gov.in and log in with the same credentials you used to register for the Transgender Certificate and for skill training.
2. Open your applicant dashboard. It shows the status of your Transgender Certificate application (pending, under verification or issued) separately from the status of your skill training enrolment (registered, matched to a course, enrolled or completed).
3. If your Transgender Certificate is still pending, check whether the portal is asking for a correction or additional document, since training enrolment cannot move forward until the certificate is issued.
4. If you have already been matched to a course, the dashboard will name the empanelled training institution and the trade you were assigned after the psychometric assessment, along with the course start date.
5. To track the monthly stipend, check the Direct Benefit Transfer status linked to your bank account on the portal, or check your bank statement directly, since the Rs 1,000 stipend is credited only for months in which you met the 80% live attendance requirement.
6. If the online dashboard does not reflect a recent action, such as a document you resubmitted, call the national helpline at 8882133133 with your application or certificate reference number for a manual status update.
7. For issues that the helpline cannot resolve, such as an application stuck for several weeks with no status change, raise it through the grievance option on the National Portal for Transgender Persons, quoting your registration ID.

There is no offline or in-person office for this component. All status information, certificate, course match and stipend, is tracked centrally on transgender.dosje.gov.in, with the helpline as the only alternate channel.

Common reasons for rejection

• No Transgender Certificate, or certificate application still pending. Skill training enrolment is gated on having an issued Transgender Certificate from the national portal. Applying for training before the certificate comes through leads to rejection or an indefinite hold. Fix: apply for and obtain the certificate first, then register for training once it is issued.
• Age outside the 18 to 45 band. Applicants younger than 18 or older than 45 are not eligible for this component and will be turned down at the eligibility check. There is no exception process for this age limit, so applicants close to either boundary should confirm their age as recorded on the certificate before applying.
• Already enrolled in another training programme under SMILE or a similar scheme. Only one training programme is allowed at a time, and holding a similar benefit elsewhere disqualifies a fresh application. Fix: complete or formally exit the existing programme before applying again.
• Attendance falls below 80% during the course. This does not block initial selection but leads to the trainee being dropped from the stipend and, in some cases, the course itself. Fix: plan around the attendance requirement in advance, and inform the training institution early if illness or travel will affect attendance so alternatives can be discussed.
• Bank account details missing, incorrect or not Aadhaar-linked. Since the stipend moves by Direct Benefit Transfer, an account that cannot receive DBT, wrong IFSC code, mismatched name, or an account not linked for DBT, results in the stipend not being credited even after enrolment. Fix: verify the bank account and its DBT linkage on the portal before the course starts, and correct any mismatch between the name on the bank account and the name on the Transgender Certificate.
• Mismatch between identity details on the certificate and other documents. If the name, age or other details on the Transgender Certificate do not match Aadhaar or bank records, the system may flag the application for manual review, delaying or blocking enrolment. Fix: get any discrepancy corrected on the source document, usually Aadhaar, and then update the certificate details on the portal rather than leaving the mismatch unresolved.