Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE)

What is SMILE?

Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) is an umbrella Central Sector scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, launched on 12 February 2022. SMILE brings together two sub-schemes that had previously run separately: comprehensive rehabilitation for the welfare of transgender persons, and comprehensive rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of begging. The Ministry allocated Rs 365 crore to SMILE for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

SMILE is a grant-in-aid scheme rather than a Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. That distinction matters more than any other fact on this page. The Ministry releases funds to state governments, urban local bodies, NGOs, community based organisations and institutions, and those bodies run the shelters, surveys, counselling, medical camps and training that reach individuals. There is no online form on which a citizen claims a SMILE payment.

Key objectives

• Provide dignified shelter, food, medical care and counselling to transgender persons and to people forced into begging.
• Rehabilitate people out of begging through identification, mobilisation, shelter and livelihood support.
• Keep transgender students in education through scholarships from Class 9 to post-graduation.
• Give both groups a route into paid work through skilling under PM-DAKSH.
• Improve health access, including gender-affirming care, through convergence with Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY.

Main features

• Two sub-schemes under one umbrella, both fully centrally funded.
• Garima Greh shelter homes for transgender persons to 23 across 17 states and union territories as of January 2026.
• Shelter homes for persons engaged in begging, each expected to house at least 50 residents.
• Transgender Protection Cells in states to track offences against transgender persons and ensure timely registration and prosecution.
• A four-stage rehabilitation model for the begging component: survey and identification, mobilisation, shelter, and rehabilitation.
• Certificate and identity card issuance through the National Portal for Transgender Persons.

Who is eligible for SMILE?

SMILE has two very different eligibility questions, one for the organisation that receives the grant, and one for the person who receives the service.

Organisations that can receive SMILE grants:

• State governments and union territory administrations, and their departments and agencies.
• Urban local bodies and municipal corporations, particularly for the begging-rehabilitation component in identified cities.
• NGOs, community based organisations and trusts registered under the Societies Registration Act, the relevant Trusts Act, or Section 8 of the Companies Act, with at least three years of audited accounts and a state government recommendation.
• Institutions and hospitals empanelled for the composite medical health package.

Individuals who can receive SMILE services:

• Transgender persons, for Garima Greh accommodation, scholarships, skilling and medical support. A transgender certificate and identity card issued through transgender.dosje.gov.in is the practical gateway.
• Persons engaged in the act of begging, including children, women and older persons identified in a SMILE survey, for shelter, medical care, counselling, education and livelihood support.

You cannot apply if:

• You are an individual looking for a cash grant, loan or pension; SMILE pays no such benefit to individuals, and any website promising a "SMILE scheme amount" in your bank account is not describing this scheme.
• You are an organisation without registration, without three years of audited accounts, or without a state recommendation.
• You are a transgender applicant for a Garima Greh place in a state with no Garima Greh; coverage is not yet national, and the nearest funded shelter may be in another state.
• You are seeking only a medical benefit without going through AB PM-JAY empanelment, since the health package runs in convergence with PM-JAY.

What documents are required for SMILE?

How to apply for SMILE support

SMILE has three real routes. Follow the one that matches who you are.

1. If you are a transgender person, first obtain your transgender certificate and identity card by applying on the National Portal for Transgender Persons at transgender.dosje.gov.in.
2. Locate the nearest Garima Greh through the portal or your state social welfare department, and approach it directly for shelter, counselling, skilling or help with other social security schemes, a Garima Greh also works as a common service centre for these.
3. For a SMILE scholarship, apply through the scholarship route notified by the Ministry for the relevant academic year, with your transgender certificate, marksheets and Aadhaar-seeded bank account ready.
4. If you are a person engaged in begging or you know someone who is, contact the district social welfare office or the SMILE-funded shelter home in your city; identification also happens through Ministry-funded surveys and outreach teams.
5. If you are an NGO, CBO or institution, register on the Ministry's e-Anudaan grants portal at grants-msje.gov.in, or respond to a Request for Proposal issued for the begging-rehabilitation sub-scheme.
6. Upload your registration certificate, three years of audited accounts, annual reports, project proposal and budget, and submit the application for state government recommendation.
7. Track the proposal on the grants portal through state recommendation, Ministry appraisal and sanction.

How much benefit does SMILE provide?

SMILE's spending happens at the institution, not at the individual. The published figures are:

• Rs 365 crore allocated for SMILE from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• Rs 6.8 crore released to and utilised by Garima Grehs as of 1 April 2025, per Ministry data.
• Rs 5 lakh per family per year of hospitalisation cover through convergence with Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, within which the composite health package for transgender persons — including support for gender-reaffirmation surgery at selected hospitals; is provided.
• Free shelter, food, clothing, medical care and skilling for residents of a Garima Greh or a begging-rehabilitation shelter home.
• Free skill training through PM-DAKSH for transgender persons and other SMILE beneficiaries.

Scholarship rates under the transgender component are notified separately by the Ministry and have been revised since launch; confirm the current rate against the Ministry notification for the academic year rather than any secondary site.

What has SMILE achieved so far?

According to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment data reported in January 2026, 30,257 persons engaged in begging had been identified through surveys and outreach across the country, and 8,129 of them had been rehabilitated. On the transgender side, 23 Garima Grehs were operating across 17 states and union territories, providing shelter, food, medical care and skill development. Transgender certificates and identity cards continue to be issued through the National Portal for Transgender Persons.

Common misunderstandings about SMILE

• "SMILE gives Rs 5 lakh to transgender persons." The Rs 5 lakh figure is the annual family hospitalisation cover under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, which SMILE converges with. It is not a cash payment.
• "There is an online SMILE application form for individuals." There is not. The individual-facing portals are the National Portal for Transgender Persons for certificates, and the shelter homes themselves.
• "Any NGO can get SMILE money." State government recommendation and three years of audited accounts are hard gates.
• "SMILE covers begging in every city." The begging component operates in identified cities and localities where surveys have been sanctioned.

Help and grievance redressal

• National Portal for Transgender Persons: transgender.dosje.gov.in, for certificate and identity card applications and status
• SMILE begging sub-scheme portal: smile-b.dosje.gov.in, for scheme guidelines, the handbook and the grievance form
• e-Anudaan grants portal; grants-msje.gov.in, for organisation applications and sanction status
• District Social Welfare Officer, for local shelter home referrals and complaints about a funded shelter

No fee is charged for a transgender certificate, for admission to a Garima Greh, or for applying for a SMILE grant. Any demand for payment should be reported to the district social welfare office and through the portal grievance form.