Training of Motor Driving to VJNT, SBC & OBC (Maharashtra)

What is the motor driving training scheme for VJNT, OBC and SBC?

Training of Motor Driving to VJNT, SBC & OBC is a skills scheme of the Government of Maharashtra, run for the Vimukta Jati, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Class communities through the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department. The Vijabhaj department, with the Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare acting as the district-level officer. The scheme provides light motor driving, heavy motor driving and conductor training to unemployed candidates from these communities, free of cost to the trainee.

The stated objective is to create employment chances for VJNT, OBC and SBC youth. Driving is one of the few skills in India where a certificate plus a valid licence translates almost directly into work, with goods transporters, state and private bus operators, app-based fleets, school buses and commercial establishments, and it needs no formal higher education. A heavy motor vehicle licence in particular opens up transport jobs that pay significantly more than unskilled labour.

The training is not delivered by the government itself. It is delivered through private motor driving schools approved by the state government for the scheme. The government reimburses the school at a notified rate per trainee, and the trainee pays nothing.

According to the published scheme details, the funding rates are:

In addition, selected candidates are provided free lodging and boarding for the duration of the course, and the licence fees are covered.

Who is eligible for the driving training scheme?

You can join if:

• You belong to a Vimukta Jati, Nomadic Tribe, Other Backward Class or Special Backward Class notified in Maharashtra, and hold a caste certificate from a competent authority.
• You are a resident of Maharashtra.
• You meet the age requirement of the Motor Vehicles Act for the licence concerned. A light motor vehicle licence requires 18 years, and a transport or heavy vehicle licence has a higher minimum age and, in most states, a requirement of at least one year of prior driving experience with a light vehicle licence.
• You meet the educational requirement prescribed for the transport licence category you want.
• You are physically fit to the standard the Motor Vehicles Act requires, including eyesight.
• You are unemployed and seeking work as a driver or conductor, which is the group the scheme is aimed at.

You are not eligible if:

• You do not belong to VJNT, Nomadic Tribes, OBC or SBC. Scheduled Caste candidates cannot apply under this particular scheme and should approach the Social Justice & Special Assistance Department's training schemes instead, including the corporation training scheme that covers vehicle driving among other trades.
• You are below the minimum age fixed under the Motor Vehicles Act for the licence category, or lack the prescribed education for a transport licence.
• You fail the medical fitness standard, particularly the eyesight requirement, which is checked before a heavy vehicle licence.
• You are not a resident of Maharashtra.
• You have already been trained under the same scheme. It is meant to be availed once.
• You approach a driving school that is not approved under the scheme — that school cannot claim the government rate, so the training will not be free.

What documents are required?

Take originals for verification and one self-attested photocopy set. The approved school should not charge you for the form or for admission.

How to apply for motor driving training

The scheme is applied for offline. There is no online registration window published for it, and any site charging a fee to "register" you is not authorised.

1. Get the list of approved motor driving schools. Contact the Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare of your district, or the district office of the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, and ask which motor driving schools are approved under this scheme for the current year. Do not rely on a school's own claim that it is empanelled.
2. Obtain a caste certificate if you do not already have one, from the Tahsildar or Sub-Divisional Officer through a Setu or Aaple Sarkar centre. This is the document the whole application rests on.
3. Apply at an approved driving school with the application form, attaching self-attested copies of the caste certificate, Aadhaar, school leaving certificate, educational certificate and photographs. Candidates may also route the application through the Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare.
4. Choose the course: light motor driving, heavy motor driving or conductor training: keeping in mind the age and prior-experience conditions for a heavy or transport licence.
5. Attend selection and verification. The school and the social welfare office check the caste certificate, the age and education, and the medical fitness where required, and draw up the batch list.
6. Complete the training. The light and heavy motor courses run for 40 days and the conductor course for 8 days, with lodging and boarding provided.
7. Apply for the licence through the Regional Transport Office. The scheme covers the licence fee, but you must clear the learner's test and the driving test yourself.
8. Collect your training certificate from the school and keep it with the licence, employers ask for both.

How to check your application or batch status

1. Ask the approved motor driving school whether your name is on the batch list submitted to the social welfare office, and note the batch number and date.
2. Check with the Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare of the district whether the batch has been sanctioned against the district's annual target, since the number of trainees funded each year is limited.
3. If a batch is delayed, ask whether the hold-up is at verification, at target allotment or at payment to the school. Schools sometimes postpone a batch because their earlier claim has not been reimbursed.
4. For licence status after training, use the Parivahan portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, where learner's licence and driving licence applications can be tracked with the application number.

Common problems and how to avoid them

• Joining a school that is not approved. The trainee then ends up paying the full commercial fee. Verify empanelment with the district office first.
• No caste certificate. A caste claim without a certificate will not be accepted at the school or by the social welfare office.
• Applying for heavy vehicle training too early. A transport or heavy licence has age, education and prior-licence conditions under the Motor Vehicles Act; a candidate who cannot get the licence gains little from the training.
• Failing the eyesight or fitness check at the Regional Transport Office after completing training. Get an eye test done before choosing the heavy vehicle course.
• Batch target exhausted for the year. An eligible candidate may have to wait for the next year's allotment; get your name recorded rather than reapplying from scratch.
• Being asked for money. The training, lodging, boarding and licence fee are covered by the government. Any demand for payment by a school or an agent should be reported.

Where to complain

• Assistant Commissioner of Social Welfare of your district. The first authority for admission, batch and payment issues under this scheme.
• Regional Deputy Commissioner of Social Welfare, above the district office.
• Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai, whose scheme list is published at obcbahujankalyan.maharashtra.gov.in.
• Regional Transport Office for licence test and licence issue grievances, which are outside the welfare department's control.
• Aaple Sarkar grievance portal, grievances.maharashtra.gov.in, for a tracked written grievance.

The scheme is free to the trainee. No approved school, agent or official may charge a candidate from the VJNT, OBC or SBC communities for admission, training, lodging or the licence fee that this scheme already pays for.