Samarth Scheme

About the Scheme

1. Respite home for orphans or abandoned, families in crisis and also for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) from BPL & LIG families including destitute
2. Opportunities for family members to get respite time in order to fulfil other responsibilities.
3. Group home facility for all age groups with adequate and quality care service with acceptable living standards including provision of basic medical care from professional doctors.
4. Batch size 30 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 Samarth Centres for providing respite and residential care of the specified categories of Persons with Disability (PwD). Samarth Centre should provide at a minimum following facilities:

1. Group Home

RO should provide group home facility for all age groups with adequate and quality care service with acceptable living standards including provision of basic medical care from professional doctors. Capacity of a Samarth Centre is 30 including non LIG and non BPL PwDs.

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

As stated earlier in the document, it is to be noted that RO should bring in more PwDs to the Samarth centre who are either Non-LIGs or who are not covered in the above mentioned category, to ensure sustainability.

Staff Requirement

1. Provision of at least two Special Educators (+Vocational Trainers)
2. One Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist
3. Three Caregivers
4. Two Ayas
5. Cook

Staffing

There should be a provision of at least two Special Educators (+Vocational Trainers), one Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist, three Caregivers, two Ayas and a Cook in the Samarth centre.

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

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

1. Infrastructure facilities
2. One Medical or Assessment room (with therapeutic aids and appliances)
3. One Activity room or Vocational room
4. One recreation room
5. Hygienic lodging and other facilities for the PwDs
6. Kitchen
7. Office supplies including a personal computer for the office purpose

Infrastructure facilities

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

The Samarth Centre should also have provision for a kitchen and office supplies including a personal computer for the office purpose and for sending fund request, submitting reports etc. to the National Trust.

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

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 can not apply under the scheme

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

Criteria for Registered Organisation (RO)

1. Requesting organization should be registered with National Trust.
2. The group home land should either be owned by RO or should have lease of at least 5 years with provision of renewal.
3. RO should have minimum 2 years of experience of working with PwD with at least one year experience in 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 enroll for the scheme.

Funding Patterns

*Note that the setup cost has been increased from Rs. 1,95,000 to Rs.2,90,000 based on the discussion in the Conference of State Welfare Secretaries held in Delhi on 1st and 2nd July 2015.

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

I. Setup Cost

This is a non-recurring one-time cost that would be provided to RO initially to setup the Samarth Centre. In addition to the grant from National Trust, RO is free to arrange grant from other sources to improve the infrastructure. It shall be the prerogative of the RO to buy the necessary products and items for set up from the places of their choice.

II. Sustenance Cost

Sustenance Cost shall be provided by the National Trust to Samarth Centre for maximum 3 months after the set up 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 in order 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 also because the National Trust believes that it would be able to become stable within the sustenance period.

Qualification criteria for sustenance

National Trust shall provide sustenance cost to the centre only if the minimum number of PwDs in a Samarth centre in 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 minimum 6 PwDs are enrolled.

Calculation of sustenance

Sustenance Cost shall be calculated on pro-rata basis based on difference in total expected PwDs and 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, 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 Samarth centre. The Samarth centre is expected to start operations within 1 month from the release of set up cost. In case the start of operations exceeds this deadline by more than a month (that means operations have not started even within 2 months from release of setup cost), the overall period for which sustenance cost would be provided would be reduced by the duration of delay. For example, if the Samarth centre starts the operation three months after the set up cost has been provided, sustenance cost shall only be provided for 2 months. Similarly, if the Samarth centre starts the operation four months after the set up cost has been provided, sustenance cost shall only be provided for 1 month.

Samarth-Respite Care
In case the Samarth centre closes down within one year of start of operations, sustenance amount that is given to concerned RO for the Samarth Centre shall be taken back from that RO.

III. Monthly Recurring Cost

The National Trust shall pay monthly recurring cost for all PwDs at Samarth Centre which are eligible to be funded by the National Trust starting from first month of operations. The National Trust shall fund the Centre only if the minimum number of PwD in a Samarth centre in the month is 30% of the expected batch size (i.e. in this case 9).

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

a. The National Trust shall fund PwDs in a Samarth Centre in 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 number of LIG (including BPL) PwDs is more than number of above LIG PwDs, funds shall be provided for only those LIG for which 1:1 ratio is maintained (LIG including BPL: Above LIG category). In this scenario, BPLs shall be given preference for funding.

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

d. Apart from this, the National Trust will fund 100% BPL PwDs in Samarth Centre as per the scheme irrespective of ratio, but same is not true for LIGs.

Example for funding by the National Trust

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 minimum 10 trained PwDs covered under the National Trust Act to work in these work centres to avail the set up cost.

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

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

Eligibility Criteria

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

1. Eligibility criteria for RO

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

Criteria for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

II. Eligibility criteria for PwD

Following are the eligibility criteria for a PwD to be enrolled in the Samarth Centre irrespective of whether the PwD is being funded by the National Trust or not:

a. PwD should have one of the disabilities under the National Trust Act, 1999, which are Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, and Multiple Disabilities

b. PwD should not be enrolled under Disha, Vikaas scheme, or Gharaunda Scheme simultaneously.

Linkage with GHARAUNDA Centre

Should facilitate shifting the PwD who is above 18 years of age and has spent more than 5 years in the Samarth Centre to Gharaunda centre.

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 Samarth 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 print out of the filled form along with the supporting documents to the National Trust within 7 days, so that it reaches the National Trust office within 15 days.

RO Enrolment (first approval) process

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

STEP 1. The RO 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 Samarth scheme is INR 1000/-

STEP 3. After the National Trust receives the application form and the documents, these are verified and then physical verification is initiated. However, if there is any missing information or wrongly submitted information which needs to be submitted again, the RO is given 15 days’ time to submit it again from the date of intimation of missing document by the National Trust.

Note that the documents related to physical verification of the RO and proposed Samarth 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 the 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 15 days from point of receipt. In case of online form, point of receipt is date and time of submission of 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 RO has not yet sent the hard copies of the documents, the National Trust would send a communication to the RO within 15 days from the prescribed time.

STEP 7. Once 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/Samarth handbook containing the complete details of the Samarth scheme is also handed over to the RO by the National Trust.

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

The existing Samarth centres will also need to follow the same procedure as detailed above for enrolling under the new scheme including submission of documents and proposal. The RO will stop receiving benefits under the existing scheme and start receiving funds under the new scheme. The process for enrolment for Samarth scheme remains the same as explained above.

Enrolment Process for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)

Enrolment of PwD at the Samarth Centre

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

STEP 2. The Samarth 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 PwD is orphan or abandoned or is from a family in crisis, the RO should approach the competent district officials authorized by the State Government to certify the same. Apart from the document for certifying the above, no more documents are to be produced for enrolling with the Samarth Centre. Also, the PwD is automatically included in the BPL category. The PwD is enrolled for Niramaya along with registration for Samarth.

STEP 4. In all other cases, a check is made on whether the PwD is applicable for the LIG or BPL funding by the National Trust.

STEP 5. The parents or guardian is required to fill the Enrolment Form along with the originals and photocopies of the below mentioned 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 Samarth Centre are:

1. Enrolment form
2. Birth certificate / Date of Birth proof of the PwD
3. Disability certificate
4. BPL certificate / Income certificate of Parents / 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. Declaration proof of the guardianship if PwD < 18 years of age and parents are not the guardians

Note that a necessary field for the intended duration of stay is also to be filled in the application form by the parents or guardian of the PwD.

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

STEP 7. Parents and guardians of the PwDs are given a detailed insight on the Niramaya health insurance scheme by the Samarth representatives, in case the PwD has not yet availed it already. RO representative may assist with the registration of the PwD under the Niramaya scheme, in case the parents or guardian agree for the same. In case of absence of parents or guardian, the Samarth centre needs to mandatorily enrol the PwD for Niramaya.