Finance Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma announced that the Government of Assam will roll out the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme, which will provide Financial Assistance of Rs. 830 per month through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme to around 17 Lakh Families in the state. It is expected to be the largest direct benefit Transfer scheme in Assam.

• The ‘Orunodoi’ scheme will be implemented from October 2, 2020, and will act as an umbrella scheme for all other government schemes for the next 5 years.

Objective:

The amount provided under the ‘Orunodoi’ Scheme will help the impoverished families in the state to meet their nutritional and medical needs.

Key Points:

i.The scheme is applicable to eligible families to buy essential food items. Rs.400 has been allotted for the purchase of medicine, Rs.150 for vegetables, 50% off on 4 kgs of ration and 4kgs of sugar.

ii.Around 15 to 17 thousand families in each assembly constituency are expected to be benefited by this scheme.

iii.The Assam government will bear 210 crore rupees per month for the ‘Orunodoi’ scheme.

iv.The amount will be transferred to the bank account of the nominated women member of the family.

v.Additional amounts will be added during occasions like admissions to educational institutions, puja, bihu etc.

Eligibility:

The selection of the eligible families will start from August 17, 2020.

i.The applicant should be a Permanent resident of the state or should be residing in the state at present.

ii.The household income of the applicant must be less than Rs 2 Lakh per annum.

iii.Women being the primary caretaker of the family are kept as beneficiaries of the scheme.

iv.Priority will be given to the household with a specially-abled nominated female, widowed/divorced/unmarried female/separated female, specially-abled household member.