Samriddhi – Scheme for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Students for Setting Start-Ups

The scheme "Samriddhi – Scheme for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Students for Setting Start-Ups" was launched by the All India Council for Technical Education. The scheme aims to provide opportunities for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students to design, launch, and run their own business or startup after formal education is completed or during their final year of education. The scheme provides a limited one-time financial assistance of ₹20,00,000/- (of which ₹1,00,000/- per year is a recurring grant) to the institute, which then selects nine registered startups of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students and provides ₹2,00,000/- seed money to each startup.

• Total funding provided is ₹20,00,000/-.
• Limited one-time financial assistance of ₹20,00,000/- is provided to the Institute.
• Seed money of ₹2,00,000/- per startup will be given, and this amount is non-refundable.
• Funding is allocated for nine startups of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students.
• ₹2,00,000/- will be given to the institute specifically for meeting the expenditure associated with the selection procedure.
• ₹1,00,000/- per year shall constitute a recurring grant portion of the total funding.

Other Details

• The total duration of the Scheme shall be for a period of 2 years.
• 100% of non-recurring funds are released at the time of the award of the scheme.
• ₹1,00,000/- each is released as recurring funding for two consecutive years.
• The seed money is provided to passed out or present students for starting their own enterprise after completion of the formal education from the same institute.

Conditions

• The Institute must set up a committee to select nine already registered startups of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students.
• It is essential that the center has dedicated faculty serving as the Principal Coordinator and dedicated support staff to ensure smooth functioning and effective meeting of its objectives.
• The Institute must devise a feedback mechanism to assess the importance of the program.
• Feedback shall be obtained after each program from each of the beneficiaries.
• If deemed necessary based on feedback, the Institute can update its curriculum for these programs.
• Exclusions from Benefit
• Startup beneficiaries who are already receiving benefits from other schemes of the All India Council for Technical Education or the Government of India will not be entitled to this scheme.

• The applicant must be an All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved institute or an All India Council for Technical Education approved University Department.
• The applicant (Institute/University Department) must have been in existence for a period of at least 10 years.
• The applicant (Institution) must possess a good incubation center.
• The incubation center's activities must have been happening for at least 5 years.
• The applicant (Institute) must have a minimum of 50 Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe students enrolled on average during the last 3 years.
• The applicant (Institute) must comply with the guidelines of the Tribal Sub Plan and the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan of the Government of India.
• Student Eligibility (For selection by the Institute)
• The applicant (Student) must be in the final year of their degree or diploma course.
• The applicant (Student) must have a registered company or startup in their name.

Online

Step 1: Accessing the Portal and Initial Login

• The applicant (Institute) must first log in to the existing All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Portal utilizing the credentials previously provided by the All India Council for Technical Education.- Following successful login, the institution must navigate to the All India Council for Technical Education Quality Improvement Schemes (AQIS) Application screen by clicking on the designated tab.

Step 2: Reviewing and Inputting Institute Details

• The system will automatically populate various Institute Details on the AQIS Application – Institute Details form, such as the Permanent Institute Identification, Name of the Institute, Address, and Institution Type; these fields cannot be edited by the Institute.
• The Institute must then manually complete the required editable details, including the Institute District, Percentage Grant received from the Government, Permanent Account Number (PAN) details, the reference number of the Extension of Approval letter for the current year, and the official Email Identification of the Institute.

Step 3: Entering and Confirming Bank Details

• The Institute must provide comprehensive Bank Details, specifying the Name of Bank (selected from a dropdown), Branch details, Account Number (entered and re-entered, converting to asterisks for security), Indian Financial System Code (IFSC Code, entered and re-entered, requiring 11 digits), Bank Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) Code, Bank Code, and Pin Code.
• After entering the data, the applicant must check the Declaration flag and click the "Save Bank Details" button, which renders the fields read-only and activates the "Confirm Bank Details" button.
• The institution must click "Confirm Bank Details" and then "Ok" to finalize the bank details, which makes this section read-only and enables the "New" button necessary for starting the AQIS Application.

Step 4: Starting the Application and Scheme Selection

• The user must click the "New" button, which is enabled only after confirming the Bank Details, to create a new All India Council for Technical Education Quality Improvement Schemes (AQIS) Application.
• An error message will be displayed if the Institute is not approved by the All India Council for Technical Education.
• A unique AQIS Application Identification will be generated, and the applicant must select the "SAMRIDDHI-Programme Centre for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Students" from the scheme dropdown list.

Step 5: Defining the Principal Investigator (PI) Details

• The Institute must click the selection menu icon in the Faculty Identification field to add the Principal Investigator’s details, selecting the Faculty Identification from the subsequent list. Data such as Title, Name, Designation, Date of Birth, Qualifications (Undergraduate/Postgraduate/Doctorate), and contact information are auto-populated from existing faculty records.
• The Institute must then fill in mandatory fields for the Faculty, including the Technical Field of the Proposal, Abstract, Objective, Expected Outcome, and required details such as the Principal Investigator's Aadhaar Card (Unique Identification Document, 12 digits long) and Permanent Account Number (PAN, 10 digits long). If the faculty added is not Full Time and Regular, an error message will be displayed.

Step 6: Completing Mandatory Application Tabs

• The applicant must navigate through and complete several required tabs applicable to the SAMRIDDHI scheme, which include: AQIS Application Details, Budget Estimates – Non Recurring Samriddhi, Academic Credentials of Coordinator, Justification of Project, Credentials of Institute, and Budget Recurring.

Step 7: Inputting Budget and Credential Specifics

• For the "Budget Estimates – Non Recurring Samriddhi" tab, the Institute must click "New" to add details for proposed startups, specifying the Student's Name, Qualification, Phone Number, Email, Project Specification, and the Estimated Cost in Indian Rupees (₹).
• In the "Academic Credentials of Coordinator/PI/Applicant" tab and the "Credentials of Institution/Department" tab, the user must add exactly one record for each required Parameter/Criteria by selecting values from dropdown lists and providing associated Counts/Numbers and Details.

Step 8: Final Application Validation

• After completing all required data entry in the necessary tabs, the user must click on the "Validate Application" button located on the AQIS Application tab.
• This action initiates a complete validation of the entire AQIS Application, and upon successful completion, a confirmation message will be displayed.
• Error messages will appear if required fields are missed or validation rules (like data length or format) are violated.