Woman member of poor family will get Rs 830 each month: Assam govt

The Assam government on

Wednesday announced that a minimum sum of Rs 830 per month would be deposited in the bank account of a woman member of a poor family under its 'Orunodoi' scheme.

Addressing a press conference here Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the state government aims to reach out to nearly 17 lakh families through this Direct Benefit Grant (DBG).

The state budget had already earmarked Rs 2,800 crore for 'Orunodoi' and it plans to spend Rs 210 crore each month under this scheme.

"There are many schemes for poor families but for availing these, people have to go to different government offices and so we decided that there should be one scheme and in the next five years, all government schemes will be implemented under the Orunodoi", he said.

There will be two components - the first will be fixed at Rs 830 and the second will be variable, according to the situation the family faces, like on the occasion of festivals, admissions, price rise, etc and will decided by the government on a monthly basis, Sarma said.

The amount will be deposited in the bank account of a female member and the family will decide among themselves on who will receive the amount.

Initially, the focus will be on women-run households and those having disabled members in the family. The government will not go by the Below Poverty Line list as the last survey was done on 2011 and this may not reflect the correct picture as many may have improved economic conditions since then or for some the situation may have deteriorated, he said.

The beneficiaries will be decided by the District Level Committees which will start functioning from August 17 and initially 15,000 families in constituencies less than two lakh voters and 17,000 beneficiaries in less three lakh voters will be reached, the minister said.

'Orunodoi Sahayikas' will be appointed to help the beneficiaries to avail the benefits.

The beneficiaries will start receiving the grant from October two, he added.

The minister further said that the government would also announce more new schemes every week from September 15 and will begin its implementation accordingly.