Goa (Technical/ Vocational Training To Sex Workers And Sexually Abused Women) Scheme, 2013 (PRABHAT)(GTVTSWSAWWWS)

Overview

About GTVTSWSAWWWS

PRABHAT exists because the Supreme Court told the states to build it. Goa framed the scheme in 2013 to pay for technical or vocational training for victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and to keep money coming in while the training runs. Two conditions decide who can apply: that the applicant is a victim of commercial sexual exploitation, and that she is a resident of Goa. The scheme sets no marks test, no income limit and no dates.

The scheme was notified by the Government of Goa on the recital that the Supreme Court, by an order dated 14 February 2011 in Criminal Appeal No. 135 of 2010, Budhadev Karmaskar versus State of West Bengal, had directed State Governments to prepare a scheme giving technical or vocational training to sex workers and sexually abused women so that they could earn a livelihood from that training and skill Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15, 11 July 2013. The notification, numbered 2-109(11)-2010/DW&CD/4886 and dated 1 July 2013, runs to twenty clauses and came into force at once.

The Department of Women and Child Development implements it, with assistance from members of reputed NGOs, trusts, societies, professionals and expert bodies working in the rehabilitation of sex workers. The department reproduces the scheme, word for word, in its Citizen's Charter Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development, Government of Goa and in its compilation of state schemes on the state portal Women and Child Development state schemes, Government of Goa, which is where most people meet it.

Both of those documents still carry PRABHAT as a current departmental scheme, and neither of them bears a date of its own. The dated public listing is older: a Directorate of Women and Child Development advertisement in the Navhind Times of 13 November 2021 named PRABHAT among the schemes the Directorate was then running Directorate of Women and Child Development advertisement, Navhind Times, 13 November 2021. None of them opens or closes an application window, because the scheme provides for none.

Two features set PRABHAT apart from a scholarship. Support is not one payment but a package: a stipend, the cost of a course, schooling up to Standard XII for her and for her children, counselling, health care, shelter where she needs it, and help finding work at the end. And the file belongs to a named post rather than to a portal. The Probation Officer receives the application, a Monitoring Committee recommends on it, and a Probation Officer or an appointed "Mentor" stays with the case afterwards.

Who runs it

Provider

At a glance

Key details

Calendar

Important dates

PRABHAT is not a seasonal scheme and nothing in it is timed to an academic year. Neither the notification nor the charter fixes a day on which applications open or close, and none of the twenty clauses mentions a calendar at all. What starts the clock is rescue or exit from commercial sexual exploitation, which is not a date the applicant picks.

The dates the scheme does fix run from the case. The Monitoring Committee must meet within a week of receiving an application, the stipend runs three months or until a livelihood programme begins, and institutional care for a victim suffering from AIDS runs six months. The scheme itself was notified on 1 July 2013, published in the Official Gazette on 11 July 2013, and commenced at once Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

The scheme's own eligibility clause is one sentence: a victim of commercial sexual exploitation and resident of Goa is eligible to apply for the benefits Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. There are two conditions in it, and both have to hold. Nothing else is required.

The department's Citizen's Charter states the same test in a longer form and adds the gloss that matters to a woman who was taken out of the state. It records that the applicant needs either to reside in Goa or to be a native of Goa, that the place of the commercial sexual exploitation is not a criterion, and that women and girls from Goa who were commercially sexually exploited outside Goa also qualify, but that to avail the benefit she has to reside in Goa Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development. Read plainly, being from Goa is enough to be inside the class, and living in Goa is what lets her draw anything. A woman who has not come back would have to return before the department can pay.

The documents do not all use the same words for the applicant, and that matters to a reader trying to place herself. The notification's short title and its objects clause say "sex workers and sexually abused women"; its eligibility clause says "a victim of commercial sexual exploitation" Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. The charter's eligibility list opens with "Women and Children who are victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation" Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development. Those are the phrases an office will put on a file, and a woman who recognises herself in any of them is inside the class the clause describes.

What the twenty clauses do not set is as useful to know. There is no age limit, no income ceiling, no educational qualification, no caste or marital condition, and no requirement that a criminal case has been registered first. Eligibility does not turn on having already left, either; it is the stipend, and only the stipend, that the scheme times to rescue or exit.

The scheme names no certifying authority for the finding that a woman is a victim of commercial sexual exploitation, and prescribes no proof of it: neither the notification nor the charter asks for a certificate, an order or a report on that point. The assessment sits with the Probation Officer, who receives the application, and with the Monitoring Committee, which recommends on it.

Who cannot apply

Exclusions

PRABHAT publishes no list of exclusions. The single bar it does set is written into clause 6, the immediate relief clause: the monthly stipend is not paid to a victim housed in a Protective Home, and the clause gives no reason for that. Clause 6 is also the only benefit clause carrying those words; training, education, counselling, health and shelter are written without any such exception Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

The same clause carries a timing condition that works like a second bar. The stipend is payable after rescue or exit from commercial sexual exploitation, so it is money for the period after leaving, not support during it.

Beyond those two, the scheme names no conduct, status or circumstance that ends entitlement, and publishes no roster of ineligible categories. It does reserve a general power in the other direction: the Government may relax any provision of the scheme if it thinks it necessary.

Continuation

Renewal conditions

PRABHAT runs on a clock tied to the case, not on an academic year, so nothing about it works like an annual scholarship renewal. The stipend is paid for three months, or until she joins a livelihood programme, whichever is earlier, and no clause extends it Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

Education support is bounded by level instead of by term. It runs up to Standard XII for her and up to Standard XII for her children, and the expenses are met from the corpus fund created under clause 17 of the scheme, subject in her case to the recommendations of the Monitoring Committee Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. Continuation is therefore a committee decision on a live case rather than a form she files each year, and the committee looks at the progress of every case it supports when it meets.

What you get

Award & benefits

The scheme pays cash for a short period and pays costs for a long one. This is what the notified text fixes.

The training is arranged rather than paid at a published rate. Clause 7 describes the kind of course it wants paid for, one with a job or a small enterprise at the end of it, and gives its examples as repair of home appliances, mobile repair, beauty treatment, tailoring, bakery and catering. The institute is left open, government or non-government. The Mentor or Probation Officer first assesses her literacy, skills and interests, and the course follows from that assessment rather than from a closed list of approved trades.

Shelter is part of the package and does not depend on the stipend. Where she needs it, she is to be admitted to a shelter home or protective home run by a government or non-government organisation, or by an organisation receiving state or central grants.

No amount is fixed anywhere for setting her up in business afterwards. The scheme says the department may provide such assistance from the corpus fund as the Government decides from time to time, so the stipend, the course and the case support are the certain parts and the business capital is the discretionary one.

• _(For availing of the benefit under this scheme the victim has to reside in Goa)_
• Financial Assistance
• The beneficiary (excluding victims housed in Protective Home) will be provided with a stipend of ₹ 2,500/- per month for a period of three months or till she joins a livelihood programme, whichever is earlier.
• Technical/Vocational Training
• Based on their literacy, skills, interest, etc, the Mentor/Probation Officer will help the beneficiary to join a technical/vocational training programme of the Government or Non-Government institutes, emphasizing on the training programmes which has opportunities for jobs or setting up their own enterprise, such as, repair of the home appliances, mobile repair, beauty treatment, tailoring, bakery, catering, etc. The fees, travel and other miscellaneous expenses will be covered.
• The beneficiary, if she is interested in pursuing her education, will be supported for her education till 12th Standard. All the expenses related to her education, boarding, travel, fees, books, toiletries, etc., may be paid.
• If in need of shelter, she shall be admitted to a shelter home/protective home being managed by a non-Government organization or Government organization or organization receiving grants from the State/Central Government.
• Psycho-Social Services
• A victim of commercial sexual exploitation will be provided counselling by Probation Officer or by a person appointed as “Mentor” or by a professional counsellor or psychiatrist working in a Government or non-Government organization. Expenses incurred for fees, travel, medicine, etc., will be covered.
• The victim shall be provided health services for all kinds of ailments at the Government hospital. Victims suffering from HIV or Tuberculosis will be connected to ART and DOTS schemes. In cases where the victim is suffering from AIDS and requires institutional care, she shall be admitted to one of the care centres meant for people with HIV/AIDS, for a period of six months.
• The children of the trafficked victim shall be provided counselling and assistance for admission in the school by the Probation Officer or by a person appointed as a “Mentor”. All the expenses related to the education of the children, such as boarding, travel, fees, books, toiletries, etc., up to 12th Standard shall be covered.
• The Probation Officer or “Mentor” shall help the victim in reintegrating with her family and community by providing counselling to the family members and if necessary to the members of the community.
• The Probation Officer or “Mentor” shall take the assistance of the family members, community members, religious leader, local police and Integrated Anti-human Trafficking Unit of Goa police in ensuring that the victim is not harassed by the traffickers. The Probation Officer or Mentor may also make a written complaint to the Chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Women, for victims' protection and the Commission shall take necessary action to protect the victim.
• The Probation Officer or “Mentor” shall assist her in finding a job, based on her interests and skills. In case the victim is unable to get a job or is not interested in a job, then the Probation Officer or “Mentor” based on the interest, skill and viability of a business shall help her in setting up a business enterprise.
• Those victims who have successfully completed the vocational training may be provided all the support by the Probation Officer/Mentor for preparation of project reports, availing loan from financial institutions etc. The Department may provide such financial assistance to the victim for setting up business enterprises as may be decided by the Government from time to time.

What to prepare

Documents required

The notified scheme names no documents at all. It says only that the application is made to the Probation Officer, which leaves the paperwork to the office rather than to a prescribed annexure.

The myScheme record for PRABHAT names an identity proof and a resident certificate, and nothing beyond them. What is missing from that short list is worth knowing before a first visit: no income certificate, no caste certificate, no copy of a first information report, and no rescue or medical record is asked for.

The resident certificate is the one that does real work, because residence in Goa is half the eligibility test and the whole of the condition for drawing benefits. A woman returning to Goa after being exploited elsewhere may not hold one. That is a question to put to the Probation Officer at the first meeting rather than something to solve alone before applying.

Step by step

How to apply

The application is made to the Probation Officer, and there is no other route in the scheme. It is offline: the myScheme record carries an offline application mode and no application link, and the notified text names no portal, no form number and no fee Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

That officer sits at the Directorate of Women and Child Development in Panaji, and the department's charter lists a Probation Officer at the head office as well as Probation Officers attached to Apna Ghar and the Protective Home Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development. Ask for the post, not for a name; the addresses and numbers are under Contact.

What happens next is fixed by the scheme and is the closest thing it has to a deadline. The Probation Officer places the application before the Monitoring Committee, and the committee has to meet within a week from the date it receives the application to give its recommendation. Its recommendation covers releasing immediate relief if that is required, appointing a Mentor, the technical or vocational training, and admission to an educational institution Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

Tracking is the weak point, because the scheme has no portal, no acknowledgement number and no status page. The one-week rule is the first thing to hold the office to. After that, the department's published service standards are what an applicant can invoke: the Director doubles as its Public Grievance Officer, a complaint brought in person or by telephone is acknowledged on the spot and an emailed one inside a day, the promised resolution time is 30 days from receipt, and a complaint that misses it can be escalated to the Director for a review that carries a further 15 days Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development.

How winners are picked

Selection process

There is no competitive selection and no merit list. Eligibility is a status and residence test, and once an application is in, it goes to a committee that recommends on what she needs rather than to a ranking that decides who wins.

That committee is the Monitoring Committee, and its composition is set out in the scheme. It is chaired by the Director of Women and Child Development and includes two social workers, especially members of NGOs or expert bodies involved in the rehabilitation of sex workers; an official from the Police Department, preferably the one in charge of the Integrated Anti Human Trafficking Unit; a qualified doctor with experience in mental health; a person with experience in business enterprise, preferably a representative of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry; two other members preferably victims of commercial sexual exploitation; and the Probation Officer as Member Secretary Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

The committee meets as often as the Chairperson thinks fit, and in any case within a week of receiving an application. At its meetings it looks into the progress of each case being supported and may interact with the beneficiary about that progress. It reports quarterly to the Secretary, Women and Child Development, on the status of the cases before it Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. No clause sets a quota, a cap on beneficiaries or a scoring rule.

Fine print

Terms & conditions

Residence is the standing condition rather than a one-time one. Eligibility requires a resident of Goa, and the department's charter adds that to avail the benefit the victim has to reside in Goa, which reads as a condition through the period of support and not only on the day of application Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development.

The money conditions are three. The stipend excludes a victim housed in a Protective Home. Training, education, counselling and business assistance are met from the corpus fund created under clause 17, called the Sex Workers Rehabilitation Fund, which is filled by annual government grants and by voluntary contributions and is operated jointly by the Chairperson and the Member Secretary of the Monitoring Committee. Education support stops at Standard XII, for her and for her children alike Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15.

On confidentiality the scheme is silent. None of the twenty clauses contains a confidentiality provision, an anonymity rule, or any restriction on who may see an application. What the text does set out is the route the application takes: it goes to the Probation Officer, who places it before the Monitoring Committee, whose members include a police official, a doctor, two social workers nominated from NGOs or expert bodies, and a business representative Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. An application is therefore read by a committee, not by one officer alone.

Two later clauses bring in people outside the department, and both are written as directions to the officer rather than as options. Clause 14, reintegration, says the Probation Officer or Mentor shall help her reintegrate with her family and community by counselling the family members, and, if necessary, members of the community. Clause 15, protection, says the officer shall take the assistance of family members, community members, a religious leader, the local police and the Integrated Anti-human Trafficking Unit of Goa Police to ensure traffickers do not harass her, and may complain in writing to the Chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Women, which is then to act to protect her Official Gazette, Government of Goa, Series I No. 15. Only the counselling of community members is qualified, by the words "if necessary". The scheme sets out no procedure by which a beneficiary declines any of this, so a woman who does not want her family or her neighbourhood approached should raise it with the Probation Officer at the first meeting and ask for it to be recorded.

Get help

Contact

These are the offices a PRABHAT case passes through, as the department lists them.

The head office also takes email at dir-wcd.goa@nic.in and has a fax on 2424238, and the Public Grievance Officer sits there to hear complaints in person on Tuesdays between 10 am and 1 pm, which is the slot to use when a case stalls Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development. The Commission for Women is on that list because the protection clause names it as the body a Probation Officer may write to on a beneficiary's behalf.

Outside those offices there is the Women Helpline 181, a toll-free line running round the clock, installed at Goa Medical Hospital, Bambolim and operated for the Government by GVK EMRI since September 2018. Its job is to refer a woman affected by violence to the police, hospitals, the District Legal Services Authority, a Protection Officer or a One Stop Centre, and to tell her which government schemes fit her situation Citizen's Charter, Directorate of Women and Child Development.

Source

Official links

Frequently asked questions

From the official scheme FAQ (myScheme)

Read this

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Scheme details are compiled from myScheme, the Government of India’s official scheme-discovery platform, and are reproduced without alteration. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change between cycles, so always confirm on the official links above before applying. Expertie does not process applications or charge fees.

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