Vikaas - Day Care Scheme for Persons with Disability

What is the Vikaas scheme?

Vikaas is a day-care scheme run by the National Trust, the statutory body set up under the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999. The National Trust works under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Vikaas addresses a practical, daily need of families: a safe place where a person with disability can spend the day, learn skills and take part in activities, while parents and carers get some time to work and manage the rest of the household.

According to the scheme description on the National scheme portal, Vikaas aims to "expand the range of opportunities available to a person with disability" once they have attained the age of 10 years, through skill development and caregiving support.

What a Vikaas centre offers

• Day care for at least 6 hours a day, broadly within an 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. window.
• Age-appropriate activities and structured routines.
• Interpersonal and vocational skill training to build independence.
• Family support: freeing guardians to attend to work and other duties.
• Optional transport arranged through the registered organisation running the centre.

Who is eligible for the Vikaas scheme?

A person can be enrolled if:

• They have attained the age of 10 years.
• They have one of the four disabilities covered by the National Trust Act, 1999 to autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability (mental retardation), or multiple disabilities; supported by a disability certificate.

For children in the 10 to 14 age group, the centre first assesses whether regular schooling would be more appropriate before enrolling them in day care.

Who cannot use the scheme:

• Persons below 10 years of age are not covered by Vikaas.
• A person whose disability is outside the four covered by the National Trust Act is not eligible under this particular scheme.
• Someone already enrolled full-time in another National Trust programme such as Samarth (residential/respite) or Gharaunda (adult lifelong care) generally cannot be enrolled in Vikaas at the same time.

How does enrolment work? (This is a service, not a cash transfer)

Vikaas is a service scheme, not a cash benefit paid into a bank account. The National Trust does not run the centres itself for each family; it works through Registered Organisations (ROs), NGOs and special-needs institutions registered with the Trust, which operate the Vikaas day-care centres and receive support from the Trust for doing so. A family therefore does not "claim" money; they enrol the person at a nearby registered Vikaas centre, which then provides the day-care service.

What documents are required for enrolment?

How to apply for and enrol in the Vikaas scheme

1. Find a registered Vikaas centre near you. A National Trust Registered Organisation running a Vikaas day-care centre. The list of registered organisations is available through the National Trust portal, thenationaltrust.gov.in.
2. Collect the enrolment form from the centre and fill in the person's and guardian's details.
3. Submit the form with documents, disability certificate, age proof, parent/guardian ID and residence proof, plus an income or BPL certificate if you are seeking a fee subsidy.
4. The centre carries out an individual assessment of the person's needs; for children aged 10 to 14 it first checks whether regular schooling is more suitable.
5. On acceptance, the person is enrolled and begins attending the day-care programme.

What does it cost the family?

Because Vikaas centres are run by Registered Organisations that receive support from the National Trust, fees to families are kept low, and they are subsidised or waived for economically weaker and BPL families on production of an income or BPL certificate. Exact fee arrangements vary by centre, so confirm the amount and any subsidy with the local Vikaas centre at the time of enrolment. This guide does not quote a fixed fee because it is set locally within the Trust's framework.

Where to get help

Vikaas is administered by the National Trust under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Information on registered Vikaas centres, current scheme guidelines and the National Trust helpline is available on the official portal, thenationaltrust.gov.in. Confirm the current helpline number and the nearest registered centre on the portal, as these are updated from time to time.

Because Vikaas is a niche, service-based disability scheme delivered locally through registered organisations, readers may be served best by a combined guide to the National Trust schemes; Vikaas, Samarth, Gharaunda, Disha and others, that shows how they fit together, rather than by a large standalone page for each.

How to check your application status

Vikaas is a service scheme delivered through local Registered Organisations (ROs), not a portal-based cash benefit, so there is no central "track application" dashboard where you enter a reference number and see a status. Status tracking works differently here, and happens mostly offline, at the centre level.

• Follow up directly with the Vikaas centre where you submitted the enrolment form. Since the centre itself carries out the individual assessment and makes the enrolment decision, it is the only place that actually holds your application status. Ask the centre coordinator or administrator for an update, quoting the date you submitted the form and the name of the person with disability.
• Ask for a written or verbal timeline at submission itself. When you submit the enrolment form, ask the centre how long the assessment usually takes (this varies by centre, so there is no single standard number of days) and when you should follow up if you have not heard back.
• Use the National Trust helpline as a second-level escalation, not a first stop. If a registered centre is delaying an assessment without explanation, or you are unable to reach the centre for a status update, the National Trust helpline (listed on thenationaltrust.gov.in) can be used to ask about the Registered Organisation's responsiveness, since the Trust oversees the ROs that run Vikaas centres.
• Check the National Trust portal for centre-level updates or notices. Registered Organisations occasionally post intake batch dates or temporary pauses in fresh enrolment on their own notice boards or through the Trust's listings; the official portal is the place to confirm whether a centre is currently taking new enrolments at all before you assume your form is simply pending.
• Keep your own paper trail. Retain a copy of the filled enrolment form, an acknowledgement (even an informal signed or stamped receipt) from the centre, and copies of the documents submitted. Since there is no digital ticket number to fall back on, this paperwork is what you will need if there is a dispute later about whether or when you applied.

There is no SMS or portal-login status check for Vikaas because enrolment decisions are made locally by the centre carrying out the assessment, not centrally by the National Trust.

Common reasons for rejection

Because Vikaas enrolment depends on a local eligibility check and an individual assessment rather than a document-matching algorithm, most rejections or holds trace back to a small set of recurring issues.

• Disability outside the four covered categories. The National Trust Act, 1999 covers only autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability (mental retardation) and multiple disabilities. A disability certificate showing a different condition (for example, a physical or sensory disability not classed as one of these four, or "multiple disabilities" not properly certified as such) will not qualify at a Vikaas centre. The fix: confirm the exact disability category recorded on the certificate before applying, and if it does not fall under the National Trust Act, ask the centre or the National Trust helpline which other government disability scheme actually fits, rather than pursuing Vikaas.
• Age below 10 years. Vikaas is specifically for persons who have attained the age of 10; a younger child will be turned away regardless of how well the disability documentation is prepared. The fix: hold the application until the birth certificate or age proof shows the person has actually turned 10, and in the meantime ask the centre about any early-intervention or younger-age programme it may separately run.
• Assessment finds regular schooling more suitable (ages 10 to 14). For this age band, centres are expected to check whether mainstream or special schooling is a better fit before enrolling the child into day care, and can decline or defer enrolment on that basis. The fix: if this happens, ask the centre for its specific reasoning and, where the family still believes day care is the better option, request a re-assessment or ask what evidence (such as prior schooling attempts that did not work) would support the case.
• Already enrolled in another full-time National Trust programme. Simultaneous enrolment in a residential or full-time programme such as Samarth or Gharaunda can be a ground for the centre declining a Vikaas enrolment, since the schemes are designed for different care needs. The fix: clarify with the family's current programme whether it is genuinely full-time, and if a shift to day care is what is actually needed, formally exit or adjust the other programme first before reapplying to Vikaas.
• Incomplete or unverifiable documents at intake. A disability certificate that is expired, unsigned, or issued by a body the centre cannot verify, or an age proof and guardian ID that do not match, will stall an assessment rather than complete it. The fix: get the disability certificate reissued or countersigned by the appropriate medical authority if it is old or unclear, and make sure the guardian's ID and the child's age proof are internally consistent before submission.
• No local capacity at the centre. Since Vikaas is delivered through a finite number of Registered Organisations, a centre may simply have no open place at the time of application, which can look like a rejection but is really a capacity constraint. The fix: ask the centre directly whether the hold is due to eligibility or to a waiting list, and if it is capacity, ask about the next intake window or whether a nearby registered centre has space.
• Income or BPL certificate rejected for fee subsidy, not for enrolment itself. Families seeking a fee waiver or subsidy sometimes have that specific request declined (an outdated or borderline income certificate, for instance) even though the underlying enrolment goes ahead at the standard fee. The fix: treat the subsidy request and the enrolment as separate; if only the subsidy is refused, get a current income or BPL certificate re-issued and reapply for the fee concession separately from the enrolment itself.