In an attempt to help families who have lost their loved ones to the deadly contagion – coronavirus, the Assam government launched a Covid-19 Widows Support Scheme under the Chief Minister's secretariat.
The scheme launched on June 11, was initiated to provide financial aid to widows who have lost their husbands to Covid-19.
The move to support families who have lost their husbands is crucial where the male member of the house was the sole breadwinner.
The government in a recent notification stated that the scheme is an effort to reduce the "emotional trauma of women from low-income families and do not have any means of earning, and are facing financial distress".
The one-time financial assistance of Rs. 2.50 lakhs will be applicable to widows whose spouses died of Covid-19 during the first or second wave as well as those who may die of the disease in the future.
Earlier last month, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said "Covid widows will also be entitled to the benefits of the Orunodoi scheme and they will receive monthly widow pension under the ongoing Indira Miri Universal Widow Pension Scheme.
But who is eligible for the scheme and who will be excluded from it?
On June 30, the government published the guidelines to avail the scheme which included the eligibility criteria as mentioned in Clause 5.
The beneficiary widow in order to avail the scheme has to be a permanent resident of the district.
The beneficiary's husband must have died with Covid positive status at the time of the death as certified by the State level Covid-19 Death Audit Board.
The beneficiary must belong to a low-income family having an annual income below Rupees 5 lakhs.
However, serving or retired government employees or widows of serving or retired Government employees will not be eligible under the scheme.
The beneficiary must not have entered into marriage again after demise of her husband at the time of receipt of the one time aid.
The Deputy Commissioners will be compiling the list of eligible beneficiaries from the National Health Mission database of Covid victims and verify whether the beneficiary is eligible for the financial assistance as per the eligibility criteria given abover.
The Deputy Commissioner after being satisfied with the authenticity of the beneficiary shall upload the name and particulars in the CM's portal with a certificate as stated in clause 6 (a). On receipt of the list of beneficiaries from the respective Deputy Commissioners, the Chief Minister's office shall disburse a sum of Rs.2.50 lakhs from Chief Minister's Relief Fund by DBT to the eligible beneficiaries after obtaining approval of the competent authority with intimation to the Deputy Commissioner concerned.
