Vikaas scheme

About the Scheme

1. Day care scheme, primarily for enhancing interpersonal and vocational skills.
2. Provision of caregiving support to PwD is in the centre.
3. Helps in supporting family members of the PwDs to get some time during the day to fulfil other responsibilities.
4. Day-care facilities to PwDs for at least 6 hours in a day along with age-specific activities.
5. RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs.
6. Batch size 30 PwDs.
7. Scheme will be available in the entire country.

Scheme Description

This scheme aims at setting up Vikaas Centres for the welfare of PwDs. Registered Organizations (ROs) should provide at a minimum the following facilities in their Vikaas Centre:

II. Day Care

RO should provide day-care facilities to PwDs for at least 6 hours in a day (between 8 am to 6 pm) along with age-specific activities. The day care should be open for at least 21 days in a month. Expected batch size of a Vikaas centre is 30 PwDs. The minimum attendance required for a PwD in the Vikaas centre is 15 days per month for National Trust to fund the PwD.

Batch size of a Vikaas centre is 30 PwDs with a maximum number of PwDs allowed as 30% extra of batch size, i.e., 39 for Vikaas Centres. On reaching the maximum limit of 39 PwDs, the Vikaas centre shall not allow any more PwDs to enrol in the centre. ROs are encouraged to apply again if they have sufficient number of PwDs for the new Vikaas Centre.

RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs (which will be paid seats for RO). Payment for the above LIG seats could be received by RO from parents, guardians, family members, RO, or any other institute/individual directly as per mutual agreed terms and conditions between RO and the other party involved (parents, guardians, family members, RO, or any other institute/individual).

The ROs should also get in touch with paediatricians or experts in similar fields to seek help in getting more PwDs enrolled in the Vikaas centre.

Staff Requirement

1. Special Educators (+Vocational Trainers), Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist
2. Counsellor for PwDs along with Caregivers
3. Ayas

Staffing

There should be a provision of Special Educators (+Vocational Trainers), Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist and Counsellor for PwDs along with Caregivers and Ayas in the centre.

Availability of a Physical therapist and speech therapist in these centres are also desirable.

The frequency or schedule of the staff is to be followed as below:

Infrastructure Facilities

1. One Medical or Assessment room (with therapeutic aids and appliances)
2. One activity room; or vocational room
3. One recreation room

Infrastructure facilities

Vikaas centre must have one Medical or Assessment room (with therapeutic aids and appliances), one activity room or vocational room, and one recreation room (all rooms to be of reasonable size) for PwDs.

Vikaas centre should also have provision for a personal computer, scanner, and internet connection for office purposes, such as sending fund requests, submitting reports, etc., to the National Trust.

Assistance for setting up work centres (only the setup cost) will be provided by the National Trust depending upon the viability of the proposal and availability of space.

Funding Pattern

The National Trust will provide funding to the Vikaas Centre under the following three heads:

I. Setup Cost

This is a non-recurring one-time cost that would be provided to RO initially to setup the Vikaas Centre. In addition to the grant from the National Trust, RO is free to arrange grants from other sources to improve the infrastructure. It shall be prerogative of RO to buy the quality and quantity of setup from the places of their choice. In fact, it is desirable for the viability of the centre. However, the National Trust will not deduct its setup cost if extra funds are arranged by RO.

II. Sustenance Cost

Sustenance Cost shall be provided by the National Trust to Vikaas Centre for a maximum of 3 months after the setup period. This has been provisioned considering the fact that the RO would find it difficult to enroll 30 PwDs in the first month. Sustenance cost shall be given to ensure that all staff and facilities are available and functional from the first day of operation of the centre, irrespective of the number of PwDs enrolled. The advantage of providing sustenance cost is that the RO would be able to run the centre without any difficulty, and it is believed that it would be able to become stable within the sustenance period.

Qualification criteria for sustenance

The National Trust shall provide sustenance cost to the centre only if the minimum number of PwDs in a Vikaas centre in the initial 3 months is at least 20% of the expected batch size in each month (in this case 6). The centre can be made operational only when a minimum of 6 PwDs are enrolled.

Calculation of sustenance

Sustenance Cost shall be calculated on a pro-rata basis based on the difference in total expected PwDs and the number of actual PwDs in the centre during the 3 months.

For example, if RO has 6 PwDs in the first month of its operation, then sustenance cost will be paid for 30 – 6 = 24 PwDs. However, for the 6 PwDs already enrolled, the monthly recurring cost shall be paid as per the scheme.

Validity of sustenance

The provision of sustenance cost is conditional upon the timely start of operation of the Vikaas centre. The Vikaas centre is expected to start operations within 1 month from the release of the setup cost. If the start of operations exceeds this deadline by more than a month (i.e., if operations have not started even within 2 months from the release of the setup cost), the overall period for which sustenance cost would be provided would be reduced by the duration of delay.

For example, if the Vikaas centre starts operation three months after the setup cost has been provided, sustenance cost shall only be provided for 2 months. Similarly, if the Vikaas centre starts operation four months after the setup cost has been provided, sustenance cost shall only be provided for 1 month.

If the Vikaas centre is closed down within one year of starting operations, the sustenance amount that was given to the concerned RO for the Vikaas Centre shall be taken back from that RO by the National Trust.

III. Monthly Recurring Cost

The National Trust shall pay the monthly recurring cost for all PwDs at the Vikaas Centre who are eligible for funding starting from the first month of operations. The National Trust shall fund the Centre only if the minimum number of PwDs in a Vikaas Centre in the months is 30% of the expected batch size (i.e., in this case 9).

The National Trust shall fund the PwDs as per the following conditions:

1. The National Trust shall fund PwDs in a Vikaas Centre in a 1:1 ratio provided there are equal numbers of LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs. LIG shall be defined as follows:
   LIG = BPL limit set by the state + additional 50% of BPL Limit of that state.
2. If the number of LIG (including BPL) PwDs is more than the number of above LIG PwDs, funds shall be provided for only those LIG PwDs for which the 1:1 ratio is maintained (LIG including BPL: Above LIG category). In this scenario, BPLs shall be given preference for funding.
3. If the number of LIG (including BPL) PwDs is less than the number of above LIG, the National Trust shall fund the total number of LIG (including BPL).
4. Apart from this, the National Trust will fund 100% BPL in Vikaas Centre as per the scheme irrespective of the ratio, but this is not true for LIG.
5. Transport Allowance (optional) shall be given to RO only in case the PwD has availed transport facility from RO after submitting required document proofs from the parents/guardians of PwD.

Example for funding by the National Trust:

IV. Setup Cost for Work Centre (if availed by the RO)

The National Trust shall also consider funding the setup cost for Work Centres opened by existing ROs after validating the viability of the proposal. Existing RO should have a minimum of 10 trained PwDs covered under the National Trust Act to work in these work centres to avail the setup cost.

If the work centre is closed down within one year of the start of its operations, the setup cost of the work centre that is given to RO shall be taken back by the National Trust.

Funds allocated under each of the heads above will not be transferred to the RO directly. The release of funds will be monitored as per the rules prescribed under the schemes.

Eligibility Criteria for Registered Organisations (ROs) and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Filter criteria for applying under the new schemes is as under:

1. Must be Registered with the National Trust.
2. Must be Registered under the PwD Act.
3. Must not have been blacklisted by the State / Central Govt. / Other Govt.
4. RO should have minimum 2 years of experience of working with PwDs with at least one year in one of the four disabilities under the National Trust Act.
5. Bank Account details of the Registered Organisation.
6. E-mail ID and contact details of the Registered Organisation.

Note: Unless the Registered Organisation fulfils the above criteria, he / she cannot apply under the scheme.

1. Criteria for Registered Organisation (RO)
2. Criteria for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

1. Criteria for Registered Organisation (RO)

1. Requesting organization should be registered with National Trust.
2. Should have a valid registration under the PwD Act 1995.
3. Should have a minimum of 2 years of experience of working with Persons with Disability (PwD) with at least one of the four disabilities under National Trust Act.
4. NGO should not be blacklisted by National Trust/any other government organization, at the time of enrolment for the scheme.

Eligibility Criteria

This section specifies the eligibility criteria for RO to apply for opening a Vikaas Centre and also for PwDs to be enrolled in a Vikaas Centre.

I. Eligibility criteria for RO

RO should fulfil all of the following eligibility criteria to enrol for the Vikaas scheme:

2. Criteria for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Eligibility criteria for PwD

Following are the eligibility criteria that a PwD should have, to be enrolled under the Vikaas Centre (whether funded by the National Trust or not):

• PwD should be of the age of 10 years or more.
• PwD should have one of the disabilities under the National Trust Act, 1999, which are Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities.
• PwD should not be simultaneously enrolled under Samarth or Gharaunda scheme.

Enrolment Process for Registered Organisations (ROs) and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

1. Enrolment Process for Registered Organisations (ROs)
2. Enrolment Process for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

I. Enrolment Process for Registered Organisations (ROs)

Fill up the Vikaas application form online and upload the scanned documents as required.

1. Fill up the Vikaas application form online and upload the scanned documents as required.
2. Submit the duly filled in form on the National Trust portal.
3. Pay the application fees of Rs.1000 online.
4. Send the printout of the filled form along with the supporting documents to National Trust within 7 days and ensure that it reaches the office of the National Trust within 15 days.

RO Enrolment process

RO enrolment process defines the steps to be followed while enrolling for Vikaas Centre for the first time. It also details the required information and documents at each step and timelines for various activities wherever applicable.

STEP 1. The NGO registered with National Trust logs in to the National Trust website.

STEP 2. The application form is available online on the National Trust website and has to be submitted online only. Application fees or enrolment in Vikaas scheme is INR 1000/-.

STEP 3. After National Trust receives the application form and the documents, these are verified. If more information is required from the RO, the RO is given generally 15 days’ time to submit the same from the date of intimation of missing documents by the National Trust.

Note that the documents related to physical verification of the RO and proposed Vikaas Centre can be submitted either at the time of enrolment for the scheme at the National Trust website or even after the online application form has been submitted. In case the RO fails to submit the same on time, the RO would be given 15 days’ time to submit the same after the RO receives the notification from National Trust.

STEP 4. The final decision on the application or proposal is taken after completing all necessary formalities and processes. Based on the Physical verification report, if the RO meets scheme criteria and requirements, the application is approved. In case there is any discrepancy, RO is accordingly informed.

STEP 5. Communication to RO by the National Trust shall be done within 45 days from the point of receipt. In case of the online form, the point of receipt is the date and time of submission of the online form along with all the required documents. However, if there is any missing information, the National Trust has to communicate to RO within 10 days from receipt of online submission.

STEP 6. In case the hardcopy of the form and other documents are not received within 15 days of online point of receipt, the National Trust has to send a communication back to RO within 10 days of the prescribed deadline (which is within 25 days from point of receipt).

STEP 7. Enrolment is completed, a scheme ID is created for the RO, and the confirmation for the same is communicated to RO.

STEP 8. A starter kit/Vikaas handbook containing the complete details of the Vikaas scheme is also handed over to the RO by the National Trust.

STEP 9. The National Trust begins the fund disbursement process for providing setup cost to the ROs.

II. Enrolment Process for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Enrolment of PwD at the Vikaas Centre

STEP 1. PwD comes to the centre with the required proofs.

STEP 2. The Vikaas Centre conducts an Individual Assessment Test with the help of Therapist/Counsellor. In case the child is between the age of 10-14 years:

1. In case the child is fit to attend school, the parents are provided guidance and counselling in terms of general care, details of special schools or regular schools, and other schemes of the National Trust that can be availed for the child. In case the parents are interested in sending the child to a regular school or special school and not to the Vikaas Centre, they can exit from the process.
2. In case the parents want to send the child to the Vikaas Centre (either along with going to school or not) even if he is fit to attend school, or in cases where the child is not fit to attend regular classes as per the Assessment Test, proceed to Step No. 4.

STEP 3. In case the PwD is above 14 years, proceed to the below steps.

STEP 4. In case of enrolling PwD in the Vikaas Centre, a check is made on whether the child is applicable for the LIG or BPL funding by the National Trust.

STEP 5. Parents or guardians are required to bring the Enrolment Form along with the originals and photocopies of the following documents. The documents and records for each PwD are to be maintained in separate files.

Documents required to be brought by Parents or guardians for enrolment in a Vikaas Centre are:

1. Enrolment form
2. Birth certificate or Date of Birth proof of the PwD
3. Disability certificate
4. BPL certificate or Income certificate of Parents or Guardian issued by competent authority as authorized by the concerned State/Union Territory (for LIG or BPL family)
5. ID proof of parent or guardian
6. Residence (Local) proof (Mandatory in case of LIG parent or guardian for parents of PwD availing transport facility)
7. Declaration proof of the guardianship if PwD < 18 years of age and parents are not the guardians

OR

LG certificate, if PwD > 18 years of age and parents are not the guardians.

STEP 6. In case of successful verification of all the above furnished documents, the PwD is enrolled at the Vikaas Centre – a confirmation Enrolment ID card/receipt is handed over to the PwDs parents or guardians, along with a starter kit. Further details about the schedule of the Centre, starting date, rules and regulations etc. are to be mentioned by the Vikaas representatives.

STEP 7. Also, the beneficiary should be given a detailed insight into the Niramaya health insurance scheme by the Vikaas representatives, in case the former has not yet availed the same. The latter can help with the registration of the beneficiary under the Niramaya scheme, in case the beneficiary is interested in the same.