Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma officially launched Orunodoi 2.0 on Wednesday virtually from Assam House in New Delhi. Orunodoi is a welfare scheme of the State government where the money is transferred directly to beneficiaries and the poverty alleviation scheme is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of direct benefit transfer (DBT) in reality.
“Our government has been extending economic and nutritional security to lakhs of financially vulnerable families across the State and amongst them the foremost has been Orunodoi scheme included under Ashtadash Mukutar Unnoyonee Maala in Assam Budget 2020-2021,” said Sarma, adding that the greater version of Orunodoi is being launched to ensure the benefits reaching the financially vulnerable and underprivileged families.
Altogether 10.54 lakh fresh beneficiaries have been newly added under the greater version of Orunodoi II and with this new inclusion the total number of beneficiaries in the State will be around 27 lakh. Total financial outlay for Orunodoi is Rs 4,142 crore per annum, making it one of the largest DBT schemes in India. Launched on 1 December 2020, Orunodoi is one of 18 flagship schemes of the State government in operation.
The beneficiaries receive their amounts in respective bank accounts by 10th of every month. Now under Orunodoi, beneficiaries of Indira Miri universal widow pension scheme will also be enrolled, besides beneficiaries of Deen Dayal Divyangjan pension scheme (and they will get Rs 1,200 per month).
Sarma also interacted with the members of district-level monitoring committees (DLMC) and asked them to ensure smooth and hassle-free implementation of the scheme. DLMC meetings for finalisation of beneficiaries will take place from 1 to 15 January next, while distribution of application forms among selected beneficiaries on 20 January. The collection and uploading of application forms in the portal will be completed by 28 February.
It may be mentioned that there has been a revision of the Orunodoi beneficiaries’ list by excluding those who no longer need the financial grant. An Orunodoi month was conducted from 20 August during which a door-to-door survey of Orunodoi beneficiaries was carried out to entail a process of verification which led to enhancement of Orunodoi database.
Chairing a review meeting on 20 October, Sarma directed the DLMC members to prepare a fresh list of beneficiaries. The list was revised on the basis of surveys conducted by a group of college students. Sarma, while interacting with public representatives, deputy commissioners and DLMC members, stated that proper reasons should be cited for the inclusion of eligible individuals (also the exclusion of ineligible people).
Asserting that the new list of beneficiaries would above political ideologies and partisan intentions, Sarma urged those beneficiaries, who got government jobs recently, to withdraw voluntarily from the scheme. He directed the DLMC members to collect data from the deputy commissioners and complete their investigation about those left out of the scheme.
