12.6 lakh new beneficiaries; 19 lakh to receive ration cards
Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Around 32 lakh new beneficiaries are slated to be included in the new Orunodoi and ration cards scheme. The scheme was launched by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday.
Launching the scheme, the chief minister said, "These welfare initiatives will form a comprehensive social security net, which will cover their nutritional, financial, medical, and ancillary needs. The Orunudoi scheme of Assam has been replicated by other states through different names."
The CM said that Orunodoi 3.0, which was launched today, will include 12.60 lakh new beneficiaries. Around 10,000 beneficiaries from each of the 126 LACs will be included. At present, the number of beneficiaries of Orunudoi is 24.60 lakhs. By January 2025, the number of beneficiaries will reach around 37 lakh, with the inclusion of the new beneficiaries.
From today, the process to distribute ration cards to 19.92 lakh people was started. The state government spends around Rs 440 crore per month to provide free rice to beneficiaries. By adopting different beneficiary schemes, around 80 lakh people in the state have been lifted out of poverty.
As substantial time has elapsed since the first launch, it has become essential to update the information and implement the scheme with improved standards and procedures. Therefore, it has become vital to phase out Orunudoi 1.0 and 2.0, without transferring any legacy data to effectively launch Orunudoi 3.0. While selecting the beneficiaries of Orunudoi 3.0, the district administration will take utmost care that the eligible beneficiaries of Orunudoi 1.0 and 2.0 are not removed from the scheme whimsically. Previous beneficiaries of the Orunudoi scheme will have to apply again for the Orunudoi 3.0 edition, as many families have a member or two who have secured government employment or established themselves in business, thus making them ineligible for the scheme.
Women beneficiaries who will not be considered for inclusion in the Orunudoi 3.0 scheme are family members of MPs, MLAs, ex-MPs, ex-MLAs, doctors, engineers, bank officials, lawyers, entrepreneurs, and owners of motorised four-wheelers. The eligibility criteria is that applicants should be permanent residents of Assam, presently residing here with a valid Aadhar-seeded ration card.
Also Read: Assam: Ranjeet Kumar Dass inaugurates Orunodoi 3.0 scheme in Pathsala (sentinelassam.com)
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