The pandemic rendered millions all around the world jobless. This made getting around essential needs all the more difficult for people in the absence of a steady flow of income. Paying heed to the plight of millions in Assam who had to leave their jobs in metro cities and return back, and those who had local businesses shutting, the Assam government launched a financial relief program to help them with their basic needs.

The Assam government launched the Assam Orunodoi scheme which will offer applicants ₹830 per month which will help beneficiaries to buy fundamental items like medicines, pulses, sugar, etc.

Objective of the Assam Orunodoi scheme

The main objective of the Assam Orunodoi scheme will be to offer financial aid to a lot of destitute houses that have faced the harsher brunt of back-to-back lockdowns. The Orunodoi scheme promises to offer several services for the betterment and welfare of the residents. As Assam is a small state, people function with fewer opportunities and financial crises remain rampant there, even before lockdowns. Lockdowns just intensified those financial problems for them.

The Orunodoi scheme will therefore eliminate those financial crises for the poor families struggling to make ends meet.

Benefits of the Orunodoi scheme

The scheme offers several benefits, some of which are mentioned herewith:

  1. A sum of ₹2800 crore is earmarked for the implementation of this scheme. It is reserved for the scheme under which every year 10 thousand rupees will be given to 27 lakh helpless families through DBT.
  2. The support is offered by the government of ₹830 per month which will be an additional ₹10,000 per annum to poor households in Assam.
  3. The Assam government will also offer free sterile napkins to young ladies in the sixth to twelfth grade.
  4. The Assam government has also begun the Sarba Brihat DBT scheme from the 17th of August and the beneficiary choice will begin region-wise soon.

Subsidy amount break-up

The subsidy amount of ₹830 stands split as follows:

ItemAmount
Procuring medicines₹400
50% subsidy for 4kg of pulses₹200
50% subsidy for 4kg of sugar₹80
Fruits and vegetables₹150
Total amount₹830

Eligibility criteria for the Orunodoi Scheme

The following people will be offered priority in the Assam Orunodoi Scheme, as per the official statement of the authorities:

  1. Families with widows
  2. Unmarried women
  3. Families with a divyang member
  4. Families with a divorcee woman
  5. Poor families not having a ration card for free rice will get the preference
  6. Poor families with the national food security scheme (NFSS) card
  7. Families who own 2 or 3-wheelers, tractors under self-help groups will also get to avail of the benefits of the scheme.

Summing it up

The Orunodoi Scheme will allow the people of Assam to deal with the aftereffects of the pandemic. When people are able to meet basic needs, they are better prepared to deal with whatever uncertainties come their way. For the eastern-most state of our country, extending this helping hand is a must. These are trying times, and the poor need all the help they can get their hands on.

Tougher times may lie ahead, but together, we can get through them all.