GUWAHATI: In the biggest ever single-day direct benefit transfer to the beneficiaries of a welfare scheme in election-bound Assam, the state’s BJP-led government on Tuesday disbursed Rs 3,600 crore.
Forty lakh women beneficiaries of the Orunodoi scheme received Rs 9,000 each.
Orunodoi is a flagship social welfare programme launched by the state government in 2020, providing monthly direct benefit transfers to empower women from economically disadvantaged families. Under it, each beneficiary receives Rs 1,250 per month.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the amount given was not an election freebie.
Giving a break-up, he said each beneficiary received Rs 5,000 together for four months of Orunodoi, and an additional Rs 4,000 as Bihu bonus. Bohag Bihu, also called Rongali Bihu, is celebrated for a month from mid-April.
“Through #Orunodoi, one of India’s first beneficiary transfer schemes, we have been assisting eligible families with monthly financial assistance since 2020 and it continues,” the Chief Minister posted on X.
He claimed that through Orunodoi, lakhs of people had been pulled out of poverty and together with other schemes, a comprehensive security net had been laid to ensure they remain poverty-free.
Since Orunodoi was launched post-Covid, the government has released Rs 17,000 crore so far. Sarma said women were the hardest hit by the pandemic when they had to use their small savings to run their families.
He said that the Jan Dhan bank accounts were instrumental in implementing the Orunodoi scheme. “If you had no bank account, Orunodoi could not be implemented,” he said, addressing beneficiaries at a programme in Guwahati.
There were 3,800 similar gatherings across the state on Tuesday, during which money was disbursed online.
The Chief Minister said the scheme covered 90 per cent of the state’s eligible women. “In order to cover the remaining 10 per cent, we will need a BJP government,” he said, adding that the government would keep working to take people out of poverty.
Sharing his goal, he said if the BJP was re-elected, the government would provide free pulses, sugar, salt and mustard oil to eligible families. “Over time, we will also provide half a kg of tea,” he said.
For the past few months, the Assam government has been providing a monthly combo of 1 kg pulses, 1 kg sugar and 1 kg salt at Rs 100.