GHARAUNDA Scheme

About the Scheme

1. An assured home and minimum quality of care services throughout the life of the PwD.
2. Adequate and quality care service with acceptable living standards, including provision of basic medical care from professional doctors.
3. Vocational activities, pre-vocational activities, and assistance for further training.
4. Batch size of 20 PwDs.
5. RO should maintain a ratio of 1:1 for LIG (including BPL) and above LIG PwDs.
6. Scheme will be available in the entire country except J & K.

Scheme Description

This scheme aims at setting up Gharaunda Centres for lifelong shelter and care of Persons with Disability (PwD) covered under the National Trust Act. Gharaunda Centre should provide at a minimum the following facilities:

I. Group Home

RO should provide lifelong group home facilities for all Adult PwDs covered under the National Trust Act with adequate and quality care service, including provision of basic medical care from professional doctors.

Batch size of a Gharaunda centre is 20 PwDs with a maximum number of PwDs allowed being 30% extra of batch size, i.e., 26 for Gharaunda Centres. On reaching the maximum limit of 26 PwDs, the Gharaunda centre shall not allow any more PwDs to enroll in the centre. ROs are encouraged to apply again if they have a sufficient number of PwDs for a new Gharaunda 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 mutually agreed terms and conditions between RO and the other party involved (parents, guardians, family members, RO, or any other institute/individual).

Staff Requirement

1. Two special educators (+vocational trainer)
2. One Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist
3. Three Caregivers
4. Two Ayas
5. One Cook

Staffing

There should be a provision of at least two Special Educators who would also provide vocational training, one Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist, three Caregivers, Ayas, and Cook(s) in the centre.

Availability of a Physical Trainer and Speech Therapist in these centres is also desirable.

The frequency or schedule of the staff to be followed is 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
4. Hygienic lodging and other facilities for the PwDs.
5. Kitchen
6. Office supplies including a personal computer for office purposes

Infrastructure facilities

Gharaunda Centre must have at least one Medical or Assessment room (with therapeutic aids and appliances), one Activity room or Vocational room, one recreation room (all rooms of reasonable size), hygienic lodging, and other facilities for the PwDs.

In addition, there should also be a provision for a kitchen and office supplies, including a personal computer for office purposes, for sending fund requests, communicating with the National Trust, and submitting reports and other documents as required under the scheme.

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

Funding Pattern

The National Trust will provide funding to the Gharaunda 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 set up the Gharaunda Centre. In addition to the grant from the National Trust, the RO is free to arrange a grant from other sources to improve the infrastructure. It shall be the prerogative of the RO to buy the necessary products for setup from the places of their choice.

II. Monthly Recurring Cost

The National Trust shall pay the monthly recurring cost for all PwDs at the Gharaunda Centre, which are eligible to be funded by the National Trust, starting from the first month of operation. The National Trust shall fund the Centre only if the minimum number of PwDs in a Gharaunda Centre in the month is 30% of the expected batch size (i.e. in this case 6).

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

a. The National Trust shall fund PwDs in a Gharaunda 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

b. 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 for which the 1:1 ratio is maintained (LIG including BPL: Above LIG category). In this scenario, BPLs shall be given preference for funding.

c. If the number of LIG (including BPL) PwDs is less than the number of above LIG PwDs, the National Trust shall fund the total number of LIG (including BPL).

d. Apart from this, the National Trust will fund 100% BPL in Gharaunda Centres as per the scheme, irrespective of the ratio. But the same is not true for LIG.

Example for funding by National Trust

III. Crisis Fund

The National Trust will maintain a crisis fund for each Gharaunda Centre, which may be utilized in case of any emergency. The crisis fund may be utilized by RO via multiple requests within the total limit set for the crisis fund. Once used, the crisis fund shall not be replenished. At the time of crisis, the RO will need to obtain approval from the State Government for the use of the crisis fund. Upon submitting the proof of this approval and/or receiving a directive from the State Government, the National Trust will release the required funds.

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 ROs should have a minimum of 10 trained PwDs to work in these work centres to avail of the setup cost.

In case the work centre is closed down within one year of the start of operations, the setup cost for the work centre shall be taken back from that RO by the National Trust.

Funds allocated under each of the above-mentioned heads are as follows:

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 fulfil the above criteria, he / she can not apply under the scheme

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

I.Criteria for Registered Organisation (RO)

1. Requesting Organization should be registered with National Trust.
2. Requesting organization should have a valid registration under the PwD Act 199
3. Group home land should either be owned by RO or should have lease of at least 10 years with provision of renewal.
4. RO should have minimum 2 years of experience of working with Person with Disability (PwD) with at least one year experience in one of the four disabilities under the National Trust Act.

Eligibility Criteria

This section specifies the eligibility criteria for RO to apply for setting up a Gharaunda Centre and also for PwD to be enrolled in a Gharaunda Centre.

Eligibility criteria for RO

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

II.Criteria for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Eligibility criteria for PwD

Following are the eligibility criteria for enrolment of beneficiary under Gharaunda Centre irrespective of whether the PwD is being funded by the National Trust or not:

1. PwD should have one of the disabilities under the National Trust Act, 1999, which are Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
2. PwD should be more than 18 years of age.

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)

1. Fill up the Gharaunda 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 online.
4. Send the printout of the filled form along with the supporting documents to the National Trust within 7 days, so that it should reach the National Trust office within 15 days.

RO Enrolment (first approval) process

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

STEP 1. The NGO registered with the 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 for enrolment in the Gharaunda scheme is INR 1000/-.

STEP 3. After the National Trust receives the application form and the documents, these are verified. If there is any missing or incorrectly submitted information, the RO is given 15 days to resubmit it.

Note: The documents related to physical verification of the RO and proposed Gharaunda 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. If the RO fails to submit the same on time, they will be given 15 days to submit the documents after receiving notification from the National Trust.

STEP 4. The final decision on the application or proposal is taken after completing all necessary formalities and processes. If the RO meets the scheme criteria and requirements, the application is approved. In case of any discrepancies, the RO is informed accordingly.

STEP 5. Communication to the RO by the National Trust will be made within 15 days from receipt of the application. If any document is missing, the National Trust will communicate to the RO within 10 days.

STEP 6. If the hardcopy of the form and documents is not received within 15 days of online submission, the National Trust will communicate back to the RO within the prescribed deadline.

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

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

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

The existing Gharaunda centres will also need to follow the same procedure for enrolling under the new scheme, including submission of documents and proposals. The RO will stop receiving benefits under the existing scheme and will start receiving funds under the new scheme.

II. Enrolment Process for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Enrolment of PwD at the Gharaunda Centre

STEP 1. PwD comes or is brought to the Centre.

STEP 2. The Gharaunda Centre conducts an Individual PwD Assessment Test with the help of a Therapist or Counsellor to understand the specific needs of the PwD.

STEP 3. If the PwD is orphaned, abandoned, or from a family in crisis, the RO should approach the competent district officials authorized by the State Government to certify the same. There are no additional documents to be submitted for enrolling the PwD in this case. The PwD will automatically be included in the BPL category and enrolled for Niramaya along with registration for Gharaunda.

STEP 3. In all other cases, a check is made to verify if the PwD is eligible for the LIG or BPL funding by the National Trust. The National Trust will generally fund based on the information provided by the RO, but reserves the right to verify it from other sources if necessary.

STEP 5. The parents or guardian are required to fill the Enrolment Form (along with the application fee, if any) and provide original 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 Gharaunda Centre:

1. Enrolment form
2. Birth certificate or Date of Birth proof of the PwD
3. Disability certificate, BPL certificate, or Income certificate of the Parent/Guardian issued by the competent authority as authorized by the concerned State/Union Territory (for LIG or BPL family)
4. ID proof of the parent or guardian
5. LG certificate in case parents are not the guardians

OR

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

STEP 6. Upon successful verification of the documents, the PwD is enrolled at the Gharaunda centre, and a confirmation Enrolment ID card or receipt is handed over to the beneficiary’s parents or guardians (if any), along with a starter kit. Further details about the starting date, rules, and regulations will be provided by the Gharaunda representatives.

STEP 7. Parents and guardians of the beneficiary are given a detailed explanation of the Niramaya health insurance scheme by the Gharaunda representatives if the beneficiary has not already availed of it. The Gharaunda Centre will mandatorily register the beneficiary under the Niramaya scheme with the agreement of the parents or guardian, in the form of a certification by the parents or guardian.