About DACE :

The Scheme of Dr. Ambedkar Chairs was started by Dr. Ambedkar Foundation (DAF) as part of Babasaheb Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Centenary Celebrations in 1993. Since then, DAF has established 21 Dr. Ambedkar Chairs in various Universities/Institutes with an intention to develop them into centres of learning and research to understand, assess and disseminate ideas, thoughts and philosophy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. In achieving this objective, the Chairs are mandated to undertake research and higher studies concerning the socio-economic and cultural life of the marginalized groups and other weaker sections of the society. The Governing Body of DAF has recently revised the Scheme and increased the Annual Grant of the Chairs from 35 lakh to Rs. 75 lakh.The scheme is aimed to establish Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Excellence in 31 Central Universities, one from every State/UT of India. Through the Scheme, the Centre shall empower Scheduled Caste students in competitive exams by providing the best and free coaching facilities.

Scope and Coverage:

This scheme provides specialized coaching ONLY to the Scheduled Caste students for the Civil Services examination conducted by the UPSC.

Implementing Universities and Other Conditions:

This scheme will run through 31 Central Universities one from every State/UT of India and provide financial assistance as per the following:

• DACE shall be established after the acceptance of Vice-Chancellor of the Central University.
• In order to conduct coaching classes for the courses applied for, the Universities must possess necessary infrastructure such as a separate classrooms, library, Hi-Speed wifi connectivity, and other requisite equipment, etc.

Eligibility Criteria for Students and Selection Procedure for the Free Coaching:

• In order to be considered for admission into the desired courses/recruitment examinations, candidates must have achieved the required minimum percentage of marks in the qualifying examination.
• The Scheme is open to only Scheduled Caste students. University shall obtain/verify requisite caste certificate from the concerned candidate / student/ issued by the competent authorities in his/her respective States/UTs or as the case may be.
• The coaching benefits under the scheme may only be utilized by a student once regardless of the number of chances that he/she may be entitled to in a particular Competitive Examination. The student must submit to the University an affidavit stating that he/she has not received any monetary benefit from any of the other scheme by Government of India, State/UTs or any funding agency.
• The candidates enrolled under this scheme shall have to attend all the classes. In case of remaining absent for more than 15 days without any valid reason, or leaving the coaching midway without prior approval of the competent authority, the total expenditure incurred on the candidate will be recovered from the University/student/candidate concerned.
• A total of hundred seats sanctioned for coaching per center. 33% of the total sanctioned seats for coaching may preferably be given to the eligible female candidates of SC category. In case the sufficient number of eligible female candidates do not apply, University may allocate the vacant seats to the male/transgender candidates (SC candidates only).
• The concerned University shall widely publicize the scheme through open advertisement and make a public notice for a Common Entrance Test. The student shall be selected through an entrance test conducted by the University as per merit.
• The University will be required to maintain attendance registers for all candidates enrolled for the coaching classes as well as subject-wise results of practice tests, or any other evaluation.

Faculty/ Resources:

• The Competent Authority of the Central University shall appoint a “Program Coordinator” for the Doctor Ambedkar Centre for Excellence, for a minimum term of 2 years. He/she must be a permanent faculty of the same University who may be entrusted with this additional assignment. He/she may also be paid a token honorarium/Special pay @ of Rs. 20,000/- per month from the total budget of the scheme. His/her role of responsibilities/ duties etc. shall be defined by the concerned University; however his/her Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR) shall be submitted to the DAF, for monitoring and records.
• The University will be required to appoint at least Three (03) contractual/term appointment/ teachers, who must be eminent and professional scholar in the concerned/allied/relevant discipline and must have published work of high quality and actively engaged in research and training.
• It should be necessary for a teacher to remain available at least 06 hours daily in the University. The minimum direct teaching-learning process must involve 20 to 25 hours per week.
• He/She may be entitled 12 leaves in a calendar year excluding the public holidays. All other leaves shall be counted as leave without pay, subject to the maximum period of one month. The other relevant ‘terms and conditions’ may be fixed by the University and a copy of the same shall be shared with DAF.
• For the above mentioned post, he/she will be paid a consolidated fixed pay salary of Rs. 1,15,000/ per month (Taxes as applicable)

Nature of Financial Assistance:

Dr Ambedkar Foundation shall fund the entire expenditure to be incurred on the establishment of Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Excellence as per the terms and conditions of the scheme.

• The grant will be provided per student basis to the University.
• The expenditure of the scheme which includes all expenses may be released to Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Excellence in Two installments every year. The first installment @ 75% will be released immediately to the University as soon as it is notified / empanelled by the DAF and the students are selected and finalized by the University.
• The remaining second installment of 25% to the Dr Ambedkar Centre for Excellence will be released after the submission of Utilization Certificate, Audited statement of accounts, receipts if any, and other payments details certified by a Chartered Accountant on the panel of CAG along with the half yearly report outcome of the programmes initiated by Dr Ambedkar Centre for Excellence.
• The Central University must inform DAF about the date wise commencement of the coaching programs including nominal role of Students batch wise and any other details as per format attached along with the application.
• All the funds shall be released as per the norms prescribed in the GFR 2017 and amendments from time to time. The Central University will make expenditure only through Public Financial Management System (PFMS)/ DBT mode.

Allocation of Budget under the Scheme:

Monitoring

At the end of each academic year, the Coordinator of the programme will submit, through the Registrar, an appraisal report, indicating the performance of each candidate. The appraisal report should also indicate:

• The duration for which the coaching was organized, classes /period, and the number of the candidates who actually participated in the programme.
• The number of candidates who actually appeared in the examination.
• The number of successful candidates in each paper along with the problems faced by the University in the implementation of the scheme.
• The subjects in which they were tutored, the names of the teacher and their subject discipline.
• Overall comments of the Coordinator.

Additional Notes

• The University shall be monitored by the DAF and D/o SJ&E. The sponsoring agency may conduct physical inspection, at any point of time and even without prior information, or it may be done through Independent agencies.
• The University shall provide all details on its Website for Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Excellence and furnish website address to the DAF. The University shall also upload year-wise and course-wise photographs of coaching programme enrolled students on their website for ready reference.
• This University shall open a separate bank account for this scheme. All expenditures related to this program should be made from this account only.

Launch of Scheme

In accordance with the launch of the said scheme on 22.04.2022 at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi in the presence of the Hon’ble Governor, Uttar Pradesh, Smt. Anandiben Patel and the HMSJE and Chairman Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, Dr. Virendra Kumar & two other Ministers of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri. A. Narayanaswamy & Km. Partima Bhuomik , the MoU was signed by the following Central Universities: