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Scheme Description
This scheme aims at setting up Disha Centres for early intervention for Person with Disability (PwD) in 0-10 years of age covered under the National Trust Act, through therapies, trainings and providing support to family members. Registered Organization (RO) should provide following minimum facilities in their Disha Centre:
I. Day Care
RO should provide day-care facilities to PwD for at least 4 hours in a day (between 8 am to 6
pm) along with age specific activities. Day care should be open for at least 21 days in a
month. The minimum attendance required for a PwD in the Disha centre is 15 days per month
for the National Trust to fund the PwD.
Batch size of a Disha centre is 20 PwDs with a maximum number of PwDs allowed is 30%
extra of batch size i.e. 26 for Disha Centres. On reaching the maximum limit of 26 PwDs,
Disha 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 Disha 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 field to seek help in
getting more PwD enrolled in the Disha centre.
Staffing
There should be a provision of a Special Educator or Early Intervention Therapist, Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist and Counsellor for PwD along with Caregiver and Ayas in the centre. Availability 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:
| S. No. | Category | Number of staff | Frequency or Minimum number of visits required per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | Special educator / Early Intervention Therapist | 1 | Everyday |
| II. | Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist | 1 | 3 times a week |
| III. | Counsellor | 1 | 3 times a week |
| IV. | Caregiver | 1 | Everyday |
| V. | Aya | 1 | Everyday |
Infrastructure facilities
Disha centre must have one Medical/ Assessment room (with therapeutic aids and appliances), one activity room and one recreation room (all rooms to be of reasonable size)
for PwD.
Disha centre should also have provision for a personal computer, scanner and net connection
for the office purpose, for sending fund request, submitting reports etc. to the National Trust.
| S. No. | Funding Head | Amount (in INR) | Frequency of funds disbursement |
| 1 | Setup Cost | 1,55,000/- | One time |
| 2 | Sustenance Cost | 4,500/- reimbursement per Differential Divyangjan# per month(# Differentail Divyangjan = maximum expected Divyangjan in disha center(20)-Actual Divyangjan in dish center for that month.it is clarified that the minimum Divyangjanenrolled by RO in initial months shall not be less than 4) | Monthly for initial 3 months |
| 3 | Monthly Recurring Cost | 4,500/- per Divyangjan BPL PwD# per month(+1000 per Divyangjan per month for transport allowance,if availed) | Monthly |
Funding Pattern
National Trust will provide funding to the Disha 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 Disha Centre. In addition to the grant from the National Trust, RO is free to arrange grant from other sources to improve the infrastructure. It shall be prerogative of the RO to buy the necessary product & item for set up from the places of their choice .
II. Sustenance Cost
Sustenance Cost shall be provided by National Trust to Disha 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 enrol 2o PwD 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 PwD enrolled. The advantage of providing sustenance cost is that the RO would be able to run the centre without any difficulty and also we believe 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 Disha centre in initial 3 months is at least 20% of the expected batch size in each month ( in this case 4). The centre can be made operational only when minimum 4 PwDs are enrolled.
Calculation of sustenance
Sustenance Cost shall be calculated on pro-rata basis based on difference in total expected PwD and number of actual PwD in the centre during the 3 months.
For example, If RO has 4PwD in the first month of its operation, then sustenance cost will be paid for 20-4 = 16PwD. However, for the 4PwD 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 Disha Centre. The Disha 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 Disha 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 Disha centre starts the operation four months after the set up cost has been provided, sustenance cost shall only be provided for 1 month.
In case Disha centre is closed down within one year of start of operations, sustenance amount that was given to concerned RO for the Disha Centre shall be taken back from the RO by National Trust.
III. Monthly Recurring Cost
The National Trust shall pay monthly recurring cost for all PwD at Disha Centre which are eligible to be funded by National Trust starting from first month of operations. National Trust shall fund the Centre only if the minimum number of PwD in a Disha centre in the months is 30% of the expected batch size (i.e. in this case 6).
National Trust shall fund the PwD as per the following conditions:
Example for funding by the National Trust
| Total Strength | No. of LIG (including BPL) | No. of Above LIG | No. of PwD funded by the National Trust |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 20 | 15 | 5 | 5 |
| 20 | 6 | 14 | 6 |
| 20 | 14 (12 BPL and 2 LIG) | 6 | 12 |
| 20 | 14 (4 BPL and 10 LIG) | 6 | 6 |
Funds allocated under each of the above mentioned head is as follows:
| S. No. | Funding Head | Amount (in INR) | Frequency of funds disbursement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup Cost (setup of activity room, recreation room, medical room, computer, furniture, Scanner and internet connection) | 1,55,000/- | One time | |
| Sustenance Cost | 4,500/- reimbursement per Differential PwD# per month # Differential PwD = Maximum expected PwD in Disha Centre (20) – Actual PwDs in Disha Center for that month It is clarified that the minimum PwDs enrolled by RO in initial months shall not be less than 4. | Monthly for initial 3 months | |
| Monthly Recurring Cost | 4,500/- per PwD per month (+ 1,000 per PwD per month for transport allowance, if availed) | Monthly |
Note: Unless the Registered Organisation fulfil the above criteria, he / she can not apply under the scheme
Eligibility Criteria
This section specifies the eligibility criteria for RO to apply for opening a Disha Centre and also for PwD in the age group of 0-10 years of age to be enrolled in a Disha Centre.
I. Eligibility criteria for RO
RO should fulfil the following eligibility criteria to enrol for Disha scheme:
| S. No. | Eligibility Criteria | Required Documents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Applicant should be registered with the National Trust | Valid Registration certificate under the National Trust Act |
| 2. | Applicant should have a valid registration under the PwD Act 1995 at the time of enrolment | Registration Proof/certificate |
| 3. | 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 National Trust Act | Declaration by the RO detailing the work |
| 4. | Applicant should not have been blacklisted at the time of enrolment by National Trust/any other government organization | Declaration by the RO |
ii. Eligibility criteria for PwD
Following are the eligibility criteria that a PwD should have to be enrolled under Disha Centre
(whether funded by the National Trust or not):
a. PwD should be in the age group of 0-10 years
b. PwD should have one of the disabilities covered under the National Trust Act, 1999,
which are Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
c. PwD should not be registered under Samarth scheme
RO Enrolment (first approval) process
RO enrolment process defines the steps to be followed while enrolling for Disha Centre for the first time. It also details out the required information and documents at each step and timelines for various activity 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 Disha 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 more information required from the RO, the RO is given 15 days’ time to submit the same.
Note that the documents related to physical verification of the RO and proposed Disha 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, hardcopy of form and other documents is 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. After the 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/Disha handbook containing the complete details of the Disha 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 set up cost to the ROs.
The National Trust should proactively reach out to the NGOs or ROs who had earlier approached for Aspiration scheme. The process for registration of Disha scheme remains the same as explained above.
Enrolment of PwD at the Disha Centre
STEP 1. PwD comes to the centre with the required proof
STEP 2. The Disha centre conducts a PwD Assessment Test with the help of a Therapist or Counsellor
a) In case the PwD 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 PwD. In case the parents are interested in sending the children to regular school or special school and not to Disha Centre and exit from the process
b) In case the parents want to send the PwD to Disha 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 next step.
STEP 3. In case of enrolling PwD in the Disha centre, a check is made by the concerned RO on whether the PwD is applicable for the LIG or BPL funding by the National Trust. The National Trust shall generally fund on the basis of information by RO. However, the National Trust reserves the right to get it verified by other sources, if required.
STEP 4. Parents or guardian are required to bring 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 by RO.
Documents required to be brought by Parents or guardian for enrolment in a Disha Centre are:
a) Enrolment form
b) Birth Certificate or Date of Birth proof of the PwD
c) Disability Certificate
d) BPL certificate or Income certificate of Parent or Guardian issued by competent authority as authorized by the concerned State/ Union Territory (for LIG or BPL family)
e) ID proof of parent or guardian
f) Residence (Local) proof (Mandatory in case of LIG parent or guardian or for parents of PwD availing transport facility)
STEP 5. After successful verification of all the above furnished documents, the PwD is enrolled at the Disha centre – a confirmation Enrolment ID card/receipt is handed over to the parents or guardians, along with a starter kit. Details about the schedule of the centre, starting date, rules and regulations etc. should be explained to parents or guardian by the Disha representatives
STEP 6. Parents and guardians of PwD should be given a detailed insight on the Niramaya health insurance scheme by the Disha Representatives, in case the former has not yet availed the same. Disha representative can help with the registration of the PwD under the Niramaya scheme, in case parents or guardians are interested in the same.
Last Updated On: 28-03-2023
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