Book Bank Scheme: I (Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare)

What is Book Bank Scheme I?

Book Bank Scheme I is a textbook support scheme of the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. Instead of paying a student cash to buy books, the department funds a book bank inside the institution. A stock of prescribed textbooks that eligible students borrow for the duration of their course and return at the end of it.

According to the department's scheme material published through the district administrations, book banks are established for medical, engineering, veterinary, agricultural and polytechnic courses, and one set of books is supplied for every 2 students. That ratio is the defining feature of this scheme and the single thing students most often misunderstand. A set is not issued to each student individually under Book Bank I. Two classmates from the same course and year share one set between them, and both are recorded as beneficiaries.

Why the scheme exists in this form. Prescribed textbooks for medicine, engineering and veterinary science are the most expensive part of the reading list. A single clinical or engineering reference can cost more than a term's other expenses put together, and the editions change often enough that a second-hand copy is frequently out of date. For an Adi Dravidar or Scheduled Tribe student living on a scholarship, that cost is the practical barrier between being admitted and being able to study. Pooling the books in a department-funded bank and reissuing them to each new batch is far cheaper for the state than buying every student a personal set, and it keeps the stock in circulation for years.

Who runs it. The Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department in the Secretariat sets the scheme, the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer administers it in each district, and the institution. The medical college, engineering college, agricultural or veterinary college, or polytechnic: holds and issues the stock. There is no separate portal and no direct application by the student to Chennai.

Who is eligible for Book Bank Scheme I, and who is not eligible?

You can be considered if:

• You belong to the Adi Dravidar, Christian Adi Dravidar or Scheduled Tribe community and hold a community certificate issued by the Tahsildar.
• You are a resident of Tamil Nadu.
• You are admitted to one of the covered courses; medicine, engineering, veterinary science, agriculture or a polytechnic diploma — in a recognised institution.
• You are currently enrolled and attending, and the institution issues a bonafide certificate saying so.
• You sign the undertaking to return the books at the end of the course.

You are not eligible, or your request cannot be processed, if:

• You do not hold a community certificate. Book Bank I is a community-based scheme, and a self-declaration or a parent's certificate in another format is not accepted.
• Your course is outside the covered list. Arts, science and commerce degrees are not part of Book Bank I, and postgraduate, law, MBA and CA Intermediate students come under Book Bank Scheme II instead.
• Your institution has no book bank and has not raised a proposal for one. The benefit is delivered through the institution, so a college that has never applied for a book bank cannot issue books to you.
• You have discontinued the course or are not on the rolls for the year claimed.
• You are holding books from an earlier year without returning them. Outstanding stock is normally settled before a fresh issue.

There is no separate merit cut-off for a book bank issue. The scheme is tied to admission and community status, not to marks in the previous year.

How to apply for Book Bank Scheme I

1. Get your community certificate ready before the academic year starts. Apply at the Taluk Office or through an e-Sevai centre if you do not already hold one; this is the document that takes longest to obtain and it blocks everything else.
2. Report to the department office or the student welfare officer in your institution in the first weeks of the academic year and register your name for the book bank. Colleges compile the list of Adi Dravidar and Scheduled Tribe students course by course.
3. Submit your document set, community certificate, bonafide certificate, admission order, Aadhaar and, where asked, the parent's income certificate and your Post Matric Scholarship record.
4. Sign the undertaking to return the books in usable condition at the end of the course.
5. Let the institution forward the consolidated requirement to the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer, who sanctions the book bank allotment for that institution.
6. Collect the books from the book bank against your signature once the stock is received. Because one set serves two students, the institution pairs students from the same course and year and records both names.
7. Return the set at the end of the course and obtain your no-dues certificate, which most institutions require before releasing final marksheets.

What documents are required?

How do I check whether my book bank request has gone through?

There is no online tracker for Book Bank Scheme I, and pretending otherwise would waste a student's time. The realistic sequence is:

1. Ask your institution's student welfare or Adi Dravidar welfare co-ordinator whether your name is on the consolidated list sent to the district.
2. Ask for the reference and date on which the institution's requirement was forwarded to the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer.
3. Approach the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer at the Collectorate directly if the institution's proposal has been pending for a full term. That office holds the sanction and the funds.

Why book bank requests get rejected or delayed

• Community certificate not produced, or produced in a name that does not match the college record.
• Course not covered. The most common single reason, usually a general degree student assuming the scheme applies to all courses.
• Institution has no book bank sanctioned, so there is no stock to issue.
• Late registration, after the institution has already sent its consolidated list for the year.
• Books outstanding from a previous year against the student's name.
• Bonafide certificate missing, so enrolment for the current year cannot be confirmed.

Where a request fails because the institution has no book bank, the fix is institutional, not personal: the college has to raise a proposal to the District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer. Students in that position are usually better served by pressing the college to do so.

Where to raise a grievance

• Student welfare officer or principal of your institution, first.
• District Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Officer, at your district Collectorate, who sanctions and monitors book banks in the district.
• Director of Adi Dravidar Welfare and the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, Secretariat, Chennai 600009 to current contact details are published on tnadw.tn.gov.in.
• Tamil Nadu Public Grievance portal for a written complaint the district office has not settled.

Book bank issue is free. No student should pay a college official, a bookshop or an agent for a set of books issued under this scheme, and no deposit beyond what the institution formally notifies is payable.