India doesn’t often name a welfare scheme after an emotion. SMILE does. Behind that acronym sit two very different communities: transgender persons, and people who beg on the street for a living.
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Indian Society · IndSoc0055
216 cities
SMILE Beggary sub-scheme reach, July 2026
Target: 295 cities by FY 2030-31
₹365 cr
Total outlay, 2021-22 to 2025-26
2
Sub-schemes under one umbrella
23
Garima Grehs, across 17 States/UTs
12 Feb
2022 — the scheme’s launch date
Persons rehabilitated (Beggary sub-scheme)10,200 / 35,000
One scheme, two very different budgets
The transgender sub-scheme’s ₹265 crore is more than double the begging sub-scheme’s ₹100 crore — even though the begging sub-scheme alone is chasing a 35,000-person target.
Must Know
- The SMILE Scheme stands for Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched it on 12 February 2022.
- It is an umbrella scheme with two separate sub-schemes. One covers transgender persons. The other covers people engaged in the act of begging.
- Its total outlay was ₹365 crore, for the five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26. Of this, ₹265 crore went to the transgender sub-scheme, and ₹100 crore to the begging sub-scheme.
- The begging sub-scheme’s stated goal is a “Bhiksha Vritti Mukt Bharat” — a begging-free India — achieved through rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration, not punishment.
- The transgender sub-scheme funds shelter homes called Garima Greh. These offer accommodation, medical care, and skill training.
Good to Know
- For transgender persons, the scheme also funds scholarships. These run from Class IX all the way to post-graduation.
- It links beneficiaries to skill training through the PM-DAKSH scheme. It also covers gender-affirmation surgery costs, through Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY.
- The begging sub-scheme works through a convergence approach. Central and state governments, Union Territories, district administrations, urban local bodies, and municipal corporations all act together.
- Its core activities include area-specific surveys, awareness campaigns, and rescue operations. It also covers shelter access, skills training, and forming Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for alternative livelihoods.
- Implementation is tracked through the SMILE-Beggary National Portal. This digital platform registers and monitors rehabilitation centres and shelter homes. Every SMILE-funded Garima Greh is also geotagged, for the same reason.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- SMILE’s transgender component builds directly on a landmark court ruling: the Supreme Court’s 2014 NALSA judgment, which first gave transgender persons legal recognition as a third gender in India. See IndSoc0054 — Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, a leading transgender-rights activist whose advocacy predates and shaped this recognition.
- The two sub-schemes are funded very unevenly. The transgender sub-scheme’s ₹265 crore is more than double the begging sub-scheme’s ₹100 crore, even though the begging sub-scheme’s own rehabilitation target (35,000 people) is a much larger headcount goal.
Current Affairs
- 20 July 2026: The SMILE Beggary sub-scheme is now operational in 216 cities. The Ministry has set a target of 295 cities within the next five years, up to FY 2030-31. (Source: PIB)
- 20 July 2026: Over 10,200 persons have been rehabilitated so far, against a raised target of 35,000. Under the newly approved FY 2026-31 funding cycle, the scheme will specially focus on metropolitan cities, and on religious, tourist, and historical places. (Source: PIB)
- 11 February 2026: An earlier Rajya Sabha reply had put the Beggary sub-scheme’s reach at 181 cities, with 30,257 individuals identified and 8,129 already rehabilitated. It also reported 23 Garima Grehs supported across 17 States/UTs, with 6 of them newly opened during 2025-26 alone. (Source: PIB)
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