It requires a lot of perseverance and patience to access government schemes and services by a individuals from general population in India due to lack of knowledge about schemes, lengthy application processes, corruption and delay in decision making by the government departments.

In August 2015, through project Svavritti, seven People Living with HIV (PLHIV) received INR 50,000/- each (a total of INR 350,000/-) from the Telangana Scheduled Caste Co-operative Finance Corporation (TSCCFC) a unit of the Telangana Scheduled Caste Co-operative Development Ltd in Mahabubnagar.

In May 2015, the project team had conducted one on one sensitization sessions with the Executive Director, Schedule Caste Cooperative Development Corporation, Mahabubnagar on the goals and objectives of project Svavritti and the needs of the PLHIV and MARPs (Most At Risk Populations). During this meeting the team learned about the schemes and services available in the department. Following which, the team organized a Demand Generation Meeting (DGM) on 19th June 2015 at the District Headquarters Hospital in Mahabubnagar. The DGM facilitated all target community members namely People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Most at Risk Population (MARP) with the opportunity to interact with officials from the SC Corporation and were able to share their problems and issues, inform them about their needs, and seek support from government officials.

The project team recommended that government officials sanction a non-repayable financial assistance scheme for marginalized PLHIV community members in the form of a subsidy. Since banks provide only repayable loans. The officials in charge accepted proposal put forth by the project team and assured to forward the team’s request to the District Collector. The project team was requested to submit applications in the prescribed format along with all relevant documents to the concerned officials at the earliest.

As a major output of the DGM, the district Community Resource Person (CRP) received 10 applications for financial assistance from PLHIV who belong to the scheduled caste community and submitted it at Mandal Parishad Development Office (MPDO) in the month of June 2015. The Mandal Parishad Development Officer scrutinized the applications and submitted them at the District Collectorate Office.

As a result of ongoing regular follow-up by the project team with the MPDO, on 25th August 2015 the CRP received a call stating that the seven applications were sanctioned for INR 50,000/- per person (non refundable amount) and to collect the cheque. The three other applications were rejected on the basis of age (eligible age for scheme access ranges from 21 – 45 years)

Finally on 28th August 2015, the cheques were distributed to the seven PLHIV beneficiaries by the District Executive Director, Scheduled Caste Development Corporation. With this amount the beneficiaries have established their own businesses such as petty shops, cattle farms and brick manufacturing units in their hometown for their daily livelihood. The detail of the small business initiatives of each of the beneficiary is available with the project team.