How to apply: 25 step-by-step government guides

Applying to an Indian government office used to mean a counter visit, a broker, and guesswork. Most services below have moved wholly or partly online, and the pattern across all of them is the same: know the eligibility, carry the exact documents, pay only the notified fee, keep the acknowledgement, and — if silence follows — use the Right to Information Act to make the office account for your file in writing.

Five groups, in the order most households meet them:

1. Identity and citizenship — the documents that identify you to the state.
2. Civil records — the registrar's certificates that anchor every other proof.
3. Welfare and subsidy schemes — what you may be entitled to and how to claim it.
4. Business and commercial — registrations that legalise earning.
5. Property and verification — records of what you own and who you are, for employers and consulates.

Every guide follows one template — direct answer first, then eligibility, steps, fees and timelines, documents, common failure points, and the RTI escalation with a copy-ready application. The consistency is deliberate: once you have used one guide, you know where to look in all of them.

• Aadhaar enrolment — UIDAI Seva Kendra, enrolment free
• PAN card — instant e-PAN free on the income-tax portal, or the paid route
• Indian passport — Normal and Tatkaal streams
• Driving Licence — learner's licence then the permanent licence
• Voter ID (EPIC) — Form 6, free

• Birth certificate — free if registered within 21 days, late registration with affidavit
• Death certificate — same 21-day rule, late registration with a fee
• Marriage certificate — registration under the marriage laws
• Caste certificate (SC/ST/OBC) — via the tehsil or state online portal
• Income certificate — income proof for schemes and fee waivers
• Domicile / Residence certificate — state residence proof

• Ration card (NFSA) — state portal, free
• PMAY housing subsidy — urban CLSS and Gramin routes
• PM-KISAN — Rs 6,000 a year to farmer families, online registration
• Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) — Rs 5 lakh a year hospital cover; free, and since October 2024 every senior citizen aged 70 or above is covered as well
• Scholarship via NSP — dozens of schemes on the National Scholarship Portal
• MGNREGA job card, the 125-day work guarantee under the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, free
• e-Shram card — UAN for unorganised workers

• Udyam MSME registration — free, instant on Aadhaar-PAN match
• GST registration — free, online
• FSSAI licence (food business) — tiered registration and licence fees by scale
• Trade Licence (municipal) — municipal fees vary by city and trade
• Shop & Establishment (Gumasta) — state labour department

• Property mutation (Namantaran) — municipal or tehsil record update
• Police Verification Certificate (PCC) — for employment, visa or long-stay abroad

Two things go wrong in almost every application: an office sits on the file, or rejects it without a reason that fits the rules. The fix for both is documentary pressure. Ask the public authority, under section 6 of the RTI Act, for the file's status, its movement, the officer holding it and the reason for the delay — the reply is due in 30 days, and a first appeal lies within 30 days after that. Most stalled applications clear once the question is on record.

• AI RTI Drafter — auto-fill the PIO and sections
• 25 status-check guides
• 30 documents-required checklists
• All state RTI portals
• Master index — 98 step-by-step apply guides
• AwaazRTI community
• The RTI Playbook book — the complete drafting and appeals guide.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026.