Seva Bhoj Yojana

Ministry of Culture has introduced a Central Sector Scheme called the “Seva Bhoj Yojna”

Reimbursement of central tax and the Central Government's share of integrated tax paid on the purchase of certain raw food items namely, ghee, edible oil, sugar/ burra/ jaggery, rice, atta/ maida/rava/flour and pulses used for distributing free food to general public/devotees by charitable/religious institutions like Gurudwaras, temples, Dharmik Ashrams, Mosques, Dargahs, Churches, Math, Monasteries, etc

Financial Assistance will be provided on First-cum-First Serve basis of registration linked to fund available for the purpose in a Financial Year. Scheme made operational w.e.f. the 1st of August, 2018

The institutions opting to avail of the Scheme must first register with the Darpan Portal of NITI Aayog to obtain a Unique ID (SBY-UIN) from the portal and thereafter, apply on the CSMS Portal on the Ministry of Culture's website www.indiaculture.nic.in the prescribed format, and upload the requisite documents.

After enrolling with the Ministry of Culture, a unique enrolment number will be given by the Ministry of Culture for filing claims for the reimbursement of the said taxes. The details of the institutions enrolled under this scheme can be viewed online at https://indiaculture.nic.in/scheme-financialassistance-under-seva-bhoj-yojna-new.

The claimant is then required to submit an application in FORMSBY-01 for obtaining a Seva Bhoj Yojana - Unique Identity Number (SBY-UIN), to the jurisdictional nodal officer of the State/Union Territory, in which the specified activity is undertaken.

Since the reimbursement of the said taxes by the nodal officers shall be done State-wise or Union territory-wise, the claimant would be required to apply for a separate SBY-UIN for each State or Union territory in which they undertake the specified activity.

Upon receipt of the application in FORM SBY-01 and the information of allocation of a Unique Enrolment Number by the Ministry of Culture, a unique ten digit SBYUIN shall be communicated to the applicant in FORM SBY02 within seven days from the receipt of the complete application by the nodal officer.

Application for claiming reimbursement in FORM SBY-03 shall be submitted to the nodal officer of the State/Union territory in whose jurisdiction the claimant undertakes the specified activity, on a quarterly basis, before the expiry of six months from the last day of the quarter in which the purchases of the specified items have been made.

The application shall be shall be submitted along with the following documents:
Self-attested copies of the purchase invoices mentioning the unique enrolment number allotted by the Ministry of Culture and SBY-UIN;

A Chartered Accountant's Certificate certifying the following:

(i) quantity, price and amount of central tax, State tax/Union territory tax or integrated tax paid on the purchase of the specified items during the quarter for which the claim is filed;

(ii) the claimant is involved in charitable/religious activities;

(iii) the reimbursement claimed in the current quarter/year is not more than the purchases in the previous corresponding quarter/year plus a maximum of 2.5%/10% for the current quarter/year, as the case may be;

(iv) the claimant is using the specified items for only distributing free food to the public/devotees etc. during the claim period; and the claimant fully satisfies the conditions laid down in para 6 of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Culture

Other important Features

• Institutions for serving free food to public / devotees
• shall serve free food to at least 5000 people in a calendar month
• distributing free food, langar and prasad to public for at-least past three years on the day of application (Self certification)
• Institutions not in receipt of any Financial Assistance from the Central/State Government for the purpose of distributing free food
• should have been in existence for preceding three years before applying for assistance