The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) on Monday launched the PM-AJAY portal and the AJAY mobile application to fully digitise the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana. The scheme is a 100 per cent centrally-funded initiative aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of Scheduled Caste communities across the country.

The launch was carried out by Union Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar in the presence of Minister of State BL Verma and Department Secretary Sudhansh Pant. Officials from all states and union territories also attended the event virtually.

PM-AJAY was introduced in the financial year 2021-22 by merging three existing centrally sponsored schemes. These include the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, the Special Central Assistance to Scheduled Castes Sub Plan, and the Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatrawas Yojana. The scheme works through three main components, including development of Adarsh Gram villages, Grants-in-Aid for livelihood and skill development programmes, and construction of hostels in educational institutions.

The newly launched digital platform will monitor the progress of more than 47,000 Scheduled Caste-majority villages and over four million beneficiaries across the country. Under the Adarsh Gram component, the earlier paper-based planning process at the village level will now shift completely to digital workflows. A national dashboard has been created to track development work through 50 socio-economic indicators spread across 10 development sectors.

The government said that the release of funds under the scheme will now be linked to milestones. Funds will be released automatically once Village Development Plans receive digital approval through the portal. This move is expected to improve transparency and speed up implementation.

For the Grants-in-Aid component, the portal will function as a centralised Management Information System (MIS). It will collect and monitor financial data from states related to skill development and livelihood programmes being run for Scheduled Caste communities. Officials said the digital system will help in better coordination and easier monitoring of the schemes.

The hostel component of PM-AJAY has also been brought under the platform. The portal will track both physical and financial progress of hostel construction and repair projects in educational institutions. Authorities will be able to monitor project updates in real time through the digital system.

Along with the portal, the Ministry also launched the AJAY mobile application to support field-level implementation. The mobile app allows officials to carry out offline door-to-door surveys and complete digital registration of beneficiaries. It also enables real-time generation of Village Development Plans directly from the field.

For hostel-related projects, field inspectors will be able to upload geo-tagged and time-stamped photographs from construction sites through the app. This feature has been added to verify infrastructure progress and ensure accountability during inspections.

The AJAY app also includes role-based access control, unified login features, and integration with existing government portals. According to the Ministry, the digital platform and mobile application are expected to make implementation of the PM-AJAY scheme faster, more transparent, and more efficient across the country.