India runs over 950 central + state welfare schemes. Most citizens do not know which ones they qualify for. This guide is the single trusted hub — pick who you are (student / farmer / woman / urban / poor / senior / worker), see what you can claim, get the exact application steps, and use a free RTI to unblock anything stuck. No agents, no fees.

• ₹5 lakh free hospital cover — Ayushman Bharat (every 70+ citizen, plus SECC families). → Apply
• ₹6,000/year cash to farmers — PM-KISAN. → Check status
• ₹1.20–2.50 lakh house subsidy — PMAY-G + PMAY-U 2.0 (Sept 2024 expansion). → Full guide
• Free LPG connection + 12 cylinders — Ujjwala Yojana 2.0. → Apply
• Loans up to ₹20 lakh, no collateral — PM Mudra. → Loan types
• ₹12,000 maternity benefit — PM Matru Vandana Yojana. → Eligibility
• Pension after 60 — ₹1k–5k/month — Atal Pension Yojana. → Open account
• Worker e-card + ₹2 lakh accident cover — e-Shram. → Register
• Stuck or rejected? 🪄 Draft a free RTI in 60 seconds → reply mandatory in 30 days.

• PM-KISAN — ₹6,000/year direct cash
• PM Fasal Bima Yojana — crop insurance, premium 1.5–2%
• Kisan Credit Card — ₹3 lakh @ 4% effective interest
• Soil Health Card — free soil testing
• e-NAM — sell crops online to all-India buyers
• MGNREGA — 100 days work, ₹220–340/day depending on state

• PM Matru Vandana Yojana — ₹6,000–12,000 maternity benefit
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana — 8.2% interest girl-child savings
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao — education + scholarship support
• Ujjwala Yojana 2.0 — free LPG connection
• PMAY (in woman's name) — house subsidy
• e-Shram — ₹2 lakh accident cover for unorganised workers

• National Scholarship Portal — 100+ central + state scholarships
• PM eVIDYA — free digital classes, textbooks
• Skill India / PMKVY — free skill training + ₹8,000 reward
• DigiLocker — store mark sheets, certificates
• Learn AI from scratch (RTI Wiki guide)
• UPSC preparation strategy

• Ayushman Bharat — ₹5 lakh free hospitalisation
• PMAY-G / PMAY-U 2.0 — house subsidy
• Ujjwala 2.0 — free LPG
• PM Jan Dhan Yojana — zero-balance account + ₹2 lakh accident cover
• Saubhagya Yojana — free electricity connection
• Jal Jeevan Mission — tap water connection

• PMAY-U 2.0 — Beneficiary-Led Construction / AHP / ARHC / Interest Subsidy
• PM SVANidhi — ₹10k–50k loans for street vendors
• e-Sanjeevani — free online doctor consultation
• ONDC — sell on government's e-commerce alternative
• UPI / BHIM — digital payments
• DigiLocker — paperless documents

• Ayushman Bharat for 70+ — ₹5 lakh free hospital regardless of income
• Atal Pension Yojana — ₹1k–5k/month after 60
• Senior Citizen Card — discounts + priority
• RTI for delayed pension — 8-month rule

• e-Shram — universal worker registration + benefits
• MGNREGA — 100-day rural employment
• National Career Service — free job portal
• PM SVANidhi — vendor loans
• RTI to demand pending wages

1. 💰 Financial Support — Loans, DBT, Pension
2. 🏥 Health & Insurance
3. 🏠 Housing & Basic Needs
4. 🎓 Education & Skill Development
5. 🌾 Farmer & Agriculture
6. 👩 Women & Social Welfare
7. 💼 Employment & Labour
8. 💻 Digital India & Governance

The published SLA on every government scheme is in its operational guidelines. If your status is delayed beyond it, you have a statutory right under §6 RTI Act 2005 to demand information — reply mandatory in 30 days (§7(1)). Default fee ₹10. BPL applicants pay nothing (§7(5)).

→ 🪄 Use the AI RTI Drafter — drafts your §6(1) application in 60 seconds, scheme-aware (auto-suggests the right authority + 5–7 questions to ask).

→ 🎤 AwaazRTI — speak in हिन्दी / English / 9 other Indian languages.

→ ⚖ First Appeal Builder — for Day 31 if PIO doesn't reply.

Most central schemes have a state-level top-up — for example, PMAY has Rajasthan's Chiranjeevi (₹25 lakh extra), and Ayushman Bharat works with Maharashtra's MJPJAY (₹10 lakh extra). Always check both.

• Aadhaar card — mobile-linked. Most-needed document for every scheme.
• PAN card — for financial schemes (Mudra, APY, ITR-based eligibility)
• Bank passbook — Aadhaar-seeded (DBT credit)
• Income certificate — from Tehsildar/SDM (only valid issuer)
• Caste certificate (SC/ST/OBC) — if claiming reservation
• Disability certificate (40%+) — for PwD reservation
• Ration card — common ID + BPL proof
• Domicile certificate — for state schemes

1. Is the scheme still active? Some schemes close or merge. Check official portal date stamp.
2. Are you in the eligibility band? Income / age / category. Don't waste application energy if not.
3. Is Aadhaar mobile-linked? All scheme portals send OTP. Without mobile-linked Aadhaar, OTP fails.
4. Is bank Aadhaar-seeded? DBT silent failure if not. Branch visit if unsure.
5. Apply early in the FY — most schemes have annual targets that fill by Q3.
6. Don't pay any agent. All applications are 100% free on official portals.
7. Save your application reference number — needed for status check + RTI.

• Trusting agents who claim to “fix” sanction — every government scheme is free; agents = scammers.
• Submitting wrong income certificate — must be from Tehsildar/SDM, not Patwari.
• Aadhaar mobile not updated — biggest blocker. Update at UIDAI Seva Kendra (free, 7 days).
• Photo too old — must be within 6 months.
• Applying to wrong scheme — central vs state confusion. Read eligibility carefully.
• No follow-up after submission — without RTI escalation, applications can sit for years.
• Sharing OTP / Aadhaar with strangers — fraud risk; report to cyber crime helpline 1930.
• Skipping the SLA — every scheme has a published reply window. Track it.

Yes — every official government scheme has zero application fee. Some forms have a printing fee at Common Service Centres (₹20–50) but the application itself is free. Anyone asking for thousands of rupees as “scheme processing fee” is a scammer.

Most are residents-only. Aadhaar (which requires Indian residency under FEMA) is a hard gate for almost every scheme. Some financial schemes (NPS, mutual funds) have NRI options through a separate process.

Yes — schemes are stackable unless explicitly mutually exclusive. For example, a small farmer can hold PM-KISAN + KCC + PMFBY + Ayushman Bharat + PMAY-G simultaneously. Check each scheme's exclusion clause.

Use the MyScheme portal (https://myscheme.gov.in) — government's one-stop eligibility checker. Or browse our category pages above by your situation.

File RTI under §6 + §4(1)(d) demanding the reasoned grounds for rejection. The PIO must give a written, citable reason. If grounds are wrong/unfair, file First Appeal under §19(1) within 30 days.

No. RTI is designed for citizens to use directly. Use our free AI RTI Drafter — drafts your application in 60 seconds.

Varies by scheme — typically 30–90 days for sanction. Specific SLAs:

• Ayushman Bharat card: 15 minutes (KYC at CSC)
• PMAY-G: 60–90 days for sanction
• PM-KISAN: 30 days for first instalment
• Mudra loan: 7–15 days at bank
• e-Shram: instant (online registration)

Refuse and report. File complaint with: (a) District Magistrate, (b) State Vigilance, © Lokpal / Lokayukta, (d) CVC (cvc.gov.in) for central officials. Whistleblower protection under PIDPI Act 2014.

Generally no — applications require the beneficiary's own Aadhaar OTP. Some schemes allow a relative to apply with legal authorisation letter (notarised). Senior citizens / disabled can apply via CSC with operator assistance.

MyScheme portal (govt) — searchable, filterable. National Scheme Index at india.gov.in.

• 🎯 Financial Schemes Finder — filter 80+ schemes by your profile, download PDF
• 🪄 AI RTI Drafter — type problem, get §6 application
• 🎤 AwaazRTI — voice-to-RTI in 11 languages
• ⚖ First Appeal Generator — §19(1) on Day 31
• 📬 PIO Reply Checker — analyse evasive replies
• 🌐 Citizen 360 — full civic intelligence by PIN
• 🏠 PMAY Status Checker

• MyScheme — Government of India
• India.gov.in — National Portal
• RTI Act, 2005
• Helplines: 1930 (cyber fraud) · 14555 (Ayushman) · 1800-11-6446 (PMAY-G)

{REVIEWED}

Last reviewed: 3 May 2026 — RTI Wiki editorial team. All scheme details verified against primary government portals.