To Increase Fish Seed Production and Inland Fisheries Resources in Tribal Areas: Training of Tribal Trainees, Gujarat

What is the Training of Tribal Trainees component?

Training of Tribal Trainees is a component of the Gujarat scheme "To Increase Fish Seed Production and Inland Fisheries Resources in Tribal Areas", introduced by the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat and implemented through the Commissioner of Fisheries. The component pays a stipend to Scheduled Tribe adults who complete a structured inland fisheries course at a departmental training centre.

The reasoning behind it is straightforward. Gujarat's tribal belt, the eastern districts running from Sabarkantha down through Mahisagar, Chhota Udepur and Narmada to Tapi, sits alongside major reservoirs and river systems. Fish is a usable livelihood there, but capturing the value needs technique: seed production, pond and reservoir management, netting and handling, and basic hygiene and marketing. The scheme is designed to put that skill set into the hands of ST fishermen so that fish production rises and employment follows.

What the parent scheme aims to do

• Increase fish production by rearing fish in reservoirs and provide employment to people engaged in inland fisheries.
• Boost fish farming and fishing activity in freshwater bodies.
• Raise inland fish output through reservoir fishing, pond aquaculture and river catch together.
• Create employment specifically for Scheduled Tribe fishermen in the state.

Who is eligible for the tribal trainee stipend?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Tribe community and hold a valid ST certificate.
• You are above 18 years of age.
• You are involved in inland fisheries activities. The parent scheme lists individuals, societies, self-help groups, associations, reservoir lease holders and private units as the applicant types that can take benefits under the inland components.
• You hold a bank account in your own name.
• You can produce an Aadhaar card, voter ID, ration card or passport as identity proof.

You are not eligible if:

• You are not from a Scheduled Tribe. The ST certificate is mandatory for this component and there is no relaxation. Scheduled Caste candidates are covered by a separate fisheries training component with its own stipend, and general category candidates are not covered by either.
• You are under 18.
• You cannot open or produce a bank account in your own name, the stipend cannot be routed to a third party's account.
• You have already taken this training benefit once. It is a once-in-a-lifetime entitlement.
• You attend fewer than 60 per cent of the training days. Attendance is not a formality here; it is the condition on which the money is released.

Where is the training conducted?

The course runs at tribal area training centres operated by the Fisheries Department at six locations across Gujarat's tribal districts:

Each centre is placed near a working inland fishery, which is the point. The training is meant to be practical rather than classroom-only, and the reservoirs alongside these centres are where trainees are expected to work afterwards. When you apply, choose the centre you can realistically attend for three months, because the attendance rule leaves little room for long daily travel.

How much is the stipend and when is it paid?

The stipend is Rs 2,000 per month for three months, a total of Rs 6,000 per trainee. It is paid into the trainee's own bank account.

Two conditions govern the payment. First, minimum 60 per cent attendance across the training period. A trainee who does not meet that threshold is not eligible for the stipend. Second, the benefit is available once in a lifetime for each eligible trainee; there is no second course and no second stipend.

The scheme does not publish a fee for the training itself. Applicants should confirm with the training centre what, if anything, they must arrange themselves — travel to the centre and accommodation during the three months are the practical costs to plan for, and Rs 2,000 a month is intended as support rather than a wage.

How to apply for the tribal fisheries training

Applications go through the iKhedut portal, Gujarat's single window for agriculture and allied scheme applications. Registration comes first, then the application.

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in, click Login at the top right of the home page, then choose Beneficiary Registration.
2. Pick your beneficiary type, Farmer, Institutional, or Except For the Farmer. An individual ST applicant who is not a registered farmer normally uses "Except For the Farmer".
3. Enter your details; company name and address if you chose an institutional type, then your district, taluka and village, the type of account holder you are, your bank account number and account name, and the captcha. Click Save and Next.
4. Verify your contact details, enter your mobile number and email, click Send OTP, type in the OTP, set and confirm a password, complete the captcha and click Submit.
5. Log in with the mobile number and password you just created, then open Schemes from the home page and go to the relevant scheme group covering fisheries components.
6. Select the Training of Tribal Trainees component, click Apply, then Apply New to start a fresh application.
7. Fill the form and upload your ST certificate, identity proof and bank account details. Use Update Application to correct anything before you finalise it.
8. Confirm the application. An application left unconfirmed is not submitted.
9. Print the confirmed application and take the printout with document copies to your district fisheries office if it asks for a physical set.

When do applications open?

iKhedut does not keep the fisheries components open all year. Components are opened in limited windows, typically tied to the financial year and to the number of training seats sanctioned for each centre. Because the six centres take a fixed number of trainees per batch, seats fill quickly once a window opens.

No standing annual date is published for this component. The reliable approach is to check ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in regularly and to ask the district fisheries office for your district when the next tribal training batch is scheduled, so you have the ST certificate and bank details ready before the window opens rather than after.

Why applications and stipends fail

• Application confirmed too late or not at all. A saved draft on iKhedut is not a submitted application.
• ST certificate missing, expired or issued outside Gujarat's competent authority. This is the single document with no substitute.
• Bank account not in the applicant's own name, or a name mismatch between the bank record and the identity document.
• Age below 18 on the date of application.
• Attendance below 60 per cent, which stops the stipend after the training rather than at the application stage, this is the failure that costs a trainee three months and Rs 6,000.
• Second claim by a trainee who has already used the once-in-a-lifetime benefit.

Where to get help

For questions on the training batches, the centres or a pending application, the district fisheries office in your district is the first point of contact; the component is administered by the Commissioner of Fisheries under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. iKhedut also publishes a public contacts page listing officers by district and taluka at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in/Public/frm_Public_Contacts.aspx.

Applying on iKhedut is free. No agent or middleman is entitled to charge a fee to register you, file the application or secure a training seat.