Assam launches Orunodoi 3.0, Rs 5,604 crore poverty alleviation scheme

Guwahati: The Assam government on Thursday rolled out the third edition of its flagship Rs 5,604-crore poverty alleviation scheme 'Orunodoi', covering 37.2 lakh beneficiaries for direct cash transfer.

The 'Orunodoi 3.0' has upped the number of beneficiaries by around 12.6 lakh people across the state from 24.6 lakh recipients of the second edition of this scheme, and thus became the largest state-run DBT initiative in Assam ever.

During the day, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the process of including new members and renewal of the existing ones for the third edition of 'Orunodoi' at a programme held here.

The scheme, which is designed to empower women members of poor families, will deposit Rs 1,250 per month directly to their bank accounts on the 10th day of every month.

Commenting on the launch of the updated scheme, Sarma said: "During the Lok Sabha election campaign, we had distributed forms to assess people's inclusion in three beneficiary schemes. There was a lot of criticism for that, but we just wanted to know who was left out." Around 10 lakh people had filled up the forms, and the government later decided to add around 10,000 new beneficiaries in each of the 126 assembly constituencies, he added.

"To roll out the scheme, we will require Rs 467 crore every month, translating into Rs 5,604 crore every year. In independent Assam, such a huge scheme was never implemented," Sarma said.

He said that all the existing beneficiaries will have to re-apply for continuing the benefits and this will help identify the people who are no longer eligible.

"To avail the scheme, the annual family income should be less than Rs 4 lakh, no member should have a government job and have a ration card. We plan to complete all formalities by January to deposit the amount thereafter," Sarma said.

Applicants should be permanent residents of Assam, presently residing in the state, with a valid Aadhaar-seeded ration card, he added.

"A total of 19,92,167 people get new ration cards. With this, 2.6 crore people in the state will have ration cards and very few from poor families will be left out," the chief minister said.

An official release said that as substantial time has elapsed since its first launch, it has become essential to update information and implement the scheme with improved standards and procedures.

"Therefore, it has become vital to phase out Orunodoi 1.0 and Orunodoi 2.0, without transferring any legacy data, to effectively launch Orunodoi 3.0," it added.

While selecting the beneficiaries of Orunodoi 3.0, the district administration will take utmost care that the eligible beneficiaries of the previous two editions are not removed whimsically, unless they now do not conform to the new guidelines, it said.

The 'Orunodoi' scheme was first launched on December 1, 2020, and the second edition of it was announced on December 14, 2022, for adding more beneficiaries to the list.

"Our scheme has been highly appreciated by other states. Already Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and now Maharashtra have implemented such a scheme with different names," Sarma claimed.