Guwahati, Oct 20: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed the district-level monitoring committees to prepare a fresh list of Orunodoi beneficiaries within 10 days based on surveys done by college students and exclude or include names by citing proper reasons.
The directive came while the chief minister chaired a video-conference with public representatives, deputy commissioners and members of the district-level monitoring committees to review the progress of the surveys for inclusion of eligible beneficiaries and exclusion of ineligible beneficiaries of the scheme.
A government-funded scheme launched on October 2, 2020 to help economically disadvantaged families amid the pandemic, Orunodoi is one of the main schemes among the 18 flagship schemes of the Assam government which are in operation in the state.
At present, there are 20 lakh beneficiaries under the ambit of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme receiving a monthly benefit of Rs 1250.
Sarma further appealed to all quarters to prepare the new list of Orunodoi beneficiaries by rising above political ideologies and partisan intentions.
The chief minister stated that the surveys on the current financial situation of the 20 lakh beneficiaries have been concluded and the documents regarding the same have been sent to the respective deputy commissioners.
The chief minister further directed the members of the district-level monitoring committees to collect the data from the deputy commissioners and complete the investigation regarding those left out of the scheme till date and prepare a list of the new beneficiaries within the next 10 days.
In order to ensure timely payment of scheme amount to the beneficiaries in the month of November too, the chief minister asked the monitoring committees to convene a meeting by October 22 and finalise the data by October 25.
He also directed the deputy commissioners to upload the final data by October 28.
The state government had recently decided to include about six lakh fresh beneficiaries under the scheme with the chief minister appealing to the beneficiaries who no longer need the financial grant (with some family members getting government jobs) to voluntarily withdraw from the scheme.
In certain cases, beneficiaries of the scheme have passed away, for which a new list has become imperative.