National Institutes for SC welfare

National SC Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC)

NSFDC is an institution under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India for financing, facilitating and mobilizing funds for the economic empowerment of persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes families living below Double the Poverty Line. NSFDC finances income generation schemes for the target group through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs) nominated by respective State/UT Governments.

The NSFDC is a Central Public Sector Enterprise incorporated on 8.2.1989 as a Company 'not for profit' under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. NSFDC is now a Section - 8 Company under the new Companies Act, 2013.

NSFDC Operation

1. Financing income generating schemes for the SCs through the State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs) and other recognized institutions nominated by the respective State /UT Governments.
2. Providing Micro-Credit Finance to the target group through the SCAs.
3. Providing Educational Loan to the eligible scheduled caste students for pursuing full-time professional/technical educational courses in India or abroad.
4. Providing grants for skill development programmes through the SCAs.
5. Providing advisory services to target group and SCAs.
6. Upgrading the skill levels of the SCAs.

Activities/Schemes

Eligibility Criteria

1. The beneficiary should be from the Scheduled Caste Community.
2. Annual family income of the beneficiary(ies) should not exceed Double the Poverty Line (DPL) income limit (presently Rs.  81,000/- p.a. for rural areas and Rs.1,03,000/- p.a. for urban areas).

Different loan schemes of NSFDC

NSFDC provides loans for income generating activities in Agriculture and other allied, industrial and service sector & for professional/ Technical education. NSFDC has following Loan Schemes:

• Term Loan - NSFDC provides term loan for project(s)/unit(s) costing upto Rs 30.00 lakhs.
• Micro Credit Finance - Beneficiaries are eligible for subsidy @ Rs 10,000/- or 50% of the unit cost, whichever is less and to be provided by SCAs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Beneficiaries under the Central-Sector Scheme of Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) funds released by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to the State Governments.
• Mahila Samriddhi Yojana - Beneficiaries are eligible for subsidy @ Rs 10,000/- or 50% of the unit cost, whichever is less to be provided by SCAs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Beneficiaries under the Central-Sector Scheme of Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) funds released by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to the State Governments.
• Mahila Kisan Yojana - Beneficiaries are eligible for subsidy @ Rs 10,000/- or 50% of the unit cost, whichever is less to be provided by SCAs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Beneficiaries under the Central-Sector Scheme of Special Central Assistance to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) funds released by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to the State Governments.
• Shilpi Samriddhi Yojana - Under the SSY, loans are provided to Scheduled Castes Artisans possessing Artisan Identity Card issued by the Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textile, Govt. of India or State Government.
• Laghu Vyavasaya Yojana - Under the scheme unit cost is Rs. 2.00 lakhs and NSFDC finances up to 90% of the unit cost. Rate of interest is 6% per annum and the loan is recoverable in maximum up to six years including moratorium. SCA can avail funds under the group scheme which is up to Rs. 5.00 crores within a unit cost of Rs. 2.00 lakhs.
• Nari Arthik Sashaktikaran Yojana - Nari Arthik Sashakti karan Yojana (NASY) to support single women/widows/women who are head of their families to take up income generating activities and improve their socio-economic status.
• Educational LoanScheme - Educational Loan shall be provided to eligible students for pursuing regular full time Professional / Technical recognized courses approved by the Government in the select fields in India or Abroad.
• Green business scheme - To provide financial assistance in the form of loan for the activities which could tackle the climate change along with income generation. Indicative activities include Battery  electric vehicle(E-rickshaw), Compressed air vehicle, Solar energy gadgets,Poly houses, etc.

For more information on the schemes, interest rates and application process, click here.

Source: National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation

National Safai Karamacharis Finance Development Corporation

About Organisation

• The National Safai Karmacharis Finance & Development Corporation (NSKFDC) has been set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India on 24th January 1997. The company is registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 as a Company not for profit.
• NSKFDC functions as an Apex institution for channelising the funds to Safai Karamcharis/Scavengers and their dependents through the State Channelising Agencies (SCAs)/Other institutions nominated by the State Government(s) .
• Apart from operating various loan and non-loan based schemes for the upliftment of the target group, NSKFDC is playing a vital role in elimination of manual scavenging - the worst surviving symbol of untouchability. NSKFDC has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Loan Schemes for Safai karamcharis

1. Education Loan (EL)
2. Term Loan (TL)
3. Mahila Adhikarita Yojana (MAY)
4. Mahila Samridhi Yojna (MSY)
5. Micro Credit Finance (MCF)
6. Sanitation Workers Rehabilitation Scheme (SWRS)
7. Green Business Scheme
8. Vocational Education and Training Loan Scheme
9. Swachhta Udyami Yojana(SUY)

How to Apply

The loan applications are submitted by the beneficiaries to the District Offices of State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs) of NSKFDC/ Branches of Regional Rural Banks(RRBs)/Nationalised Bank. The District Offices of SCAs/Branches of RRBs/Nationalised Banks send these applications after scrutiny to their Head Offices. The viability of the project proposals are being appraised by the SCAs/ RRBs/Nationalised Banks and the viable projects are sent to NSKFDC along with their recommendations.

The said project proposals are also appraised by the Project Appraisal Committee of NSKFDC and the proposals which are found to be in order, are placed before the Board of Directors for consideration and sanction. After sanction by the Board of Directors of NSKFDC, the sanction letters, also called Letter of Intents, are issued  to the SCAs/RRBs/Nationalised for acceptance.

After acceptance of the terms and conditions of the sanction and execution of loan agreement/other documents, funds are released to the SCAs/RRBs/Nationalised Bank for onward disbursement to the beneficiaries.  The release of funds is being made by NSKFDC on receipt of demand from the SCAs/RRBs/Nationalised Banks  after considering all the parameters of release as  per the Lending Policies & Guidelines (LPG) of NSKFDC.

Source: National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation

Related Resources

1. Website of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment