Establishment of Cell for SC/ST

What is the Establishment of Cell for SC/ST?

Establishment of Cell for SC/ST is a project of the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), the state's apex science and technology council under the Government of Uttarakhand, implemented with funding from the Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

According to the UCOST project page, the cell exists because Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe populations in Uttarakhand, 18.76% and 2.89% of the state's population respectively as per Census 2011, are concentrated in hilly regions where livelihood options are narrow and where scientific inputs rarely reach households directly. The project's answer is to place a cell in each of the 13 districts of the state and to route science and technology interventions through it.

The project is coordinated at UCOST by Dr D. P. Uniyal, Joint Director, and Dr M. S. Rawat, Scientific Officer.

What the project sets out to do

• Assess the livelihood system of SC and ST households so that sustainable livelihood planning can be done through science, know-how and practices.
• Capture indigenous knowledge held by these communities and upgrade skills using local innovation systems, rather than importing an unrelated trade.
• Build databases of promising technologies that are ready for wider adoption by these communities.
• Map resources spatially using GIS and remote sensing, so that interventions are planned against what a location actually has.

Who is eligible under the SC/ST Cell?

You can be covered if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe notified for Uttarakhand and hold a caste certificate from the competent authority.
• You are resident in one of the 13 districts of Uttarakhand. The project's stated focus is on SC and ST communities in the hilly regions.
• Your household livelihood is linked to agriculture, horticulture, forest produce, livestock or a traditional craft, these are the areas the interventions are built around.
• You are willing to take part in training, demonstration or a group enterprise such as a food preservation or artisanal unit, since the support is delivered as capability, not as cash.
• You are applying as an individual or as a self-help group / registered society of the target community.

You are not eligible if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. The project is targeted specifically at these communities under the SEED Division mandate of the Department of Science and Technology.
• You are resident outside Uttarakhand.
• You are looking for a cash grant, loan, subsidy or pension. UCOST publishes no rupee benefit under this project, and the intervention model is training, technology transfer, unit establishment and market linkage.
• You are seeking individual R&D funding. UCOST runs separate windows for R&D projects, science popularisation and travel support, listed under the grants and funding section of its website, and a research proposal belongs there rather than here.

What does the SC/ST Cell actually do?

UCOST describes the methodology of the project in terms of concrete interventions rather than generalities.

• Food preservation units for agricultural and horticultural products. Uttarakhand's hill districts grow fruit, vegetables and spices that are lost or sold at distress rates because there is no way to hold them. A small preservation unit; drying, pickling, pulping, packaging; converts a perishable glut into a storable product.
• Artisanal and handicraft units, built on skills the community already has, with skill upgradation rather than replacement.
• Testing and validation of indigenous knowledge and the products derived from it, so that a traditional preparation can be sold with a defensible claim.
• Market linkage development, which is the step most such projects fail at and which UCOST lists explicitly as part of the methodology.
• Resource mapping using GIS and remote sensing, feeding into where an intervention is placed.

Expected deliverables stated by UCOST for the project are human resource development among SC/ST communities, site-based skill development centres, a gap analysis of existing government and NGO schemes serving these communities, and documentation of science and technology intervention programmes so that what works can be repeated.

That gap analysis deliverable is worth noting for a reader. Part of what the cell is meant to produce is a map of which existing schemes SC and ST households in a given block are entitled to and are not receiving, which makes the district cell a reasonable first stop for a household unsure what it qualifies for.

What documents are required?

How to apply to the SC/ST Cell

1. Confirm your eligibility — obtain or locate your Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe certificate issued by the competent authority in Uttarakhand, along with Aadhaar and residence proof.
2. Find the cell in your district. The project runs cells across all 13 districts of Uttarakhand. Ask at the district administration or the district science centre, or ask UCOST directly which agency hosts the cell in your district.
3. Contact UCOST at Vigyan Dham, Dehradun on +91-135-2976266 or by email at ucost@ucost.in, and ask for the SC/ST Cell. The project coordinators named on the UCOST page are Dr D. P. Uniyal, Joint Director and Dr M. S. Rawat, Scientific Officer.
4. State what you want, specifically, a skill training batch, help setting up a food preservation unit, an artisanal or handicraft unit, or validation and market linkage for a product your community already makes. The cell works through defined interventions, so a specific ask is processed faster than a general request.
5. Apply as a group where possible. A self-help group or a registered society of the target community is easier to run a unit through than an individual, because equipment, training and market linkage are shared.
6. Submit the documents at the cell or at UCOST and keep a dated acknowledgement.
7. Follow up with UCOST on the same number for the batch or programme schedule. Activity is announced as programmes are scheduled rather than through a standing annual application window.

Why an application does not go anywhere

• No caste certificate, which is the threshold document for a project defined by SC and ST coverage.
• Expecting cash. Applicants routinely approach science and technology councils expecting a subsidy cheque. This project transfers capability and equipment through programmes, not money to a bank account.
• Applying when no programme is running in that district. UCOST announces activity as it is scheduled, so an application filed in a quiet period waits.
• A vague request with no stated trade, product or skill.
• Approaching the wrong UCOST window. Research funding, science popularisation grants and travel support are separate UCOST schemes with their own formats, listed under grants and funding on ucost.uk.gov.in.

Where to get help

• Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), Vigyan Dham, Vigyan Sadan Block, Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand: phone +91-135-2976266, email ucost@ucost.in.
• Director General, UCOST, Prof Durgesh Pant, email dg@ucost.in.
• SC/ST Cell project coordinators; Dr D. P. Uniyal, Joint Director, and Dr M. S. Rawat, Scientific Officer.
• ucost.uk.gov.in/scst-cell, the official project page.
• Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) Division, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, the funding division, at dst.gov.in.

UCOST does not publish, on the public project page, a per-beneficiary benefit amount, an application form, a dedicated helpline for this project, or a district list of cell addresses. A prospective participant should therefore contact UCOST Dehradun directly on the number above and should treat any rupee figure quoted by an intermediary for this project as unverified.