Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched the distribution of Livelihoods Assistance to Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana and PDS beneficiaries. As part of this, 96 lakh beneficiary families will be given Rs 1000 as livelihoods assistance. The financial assistance will be of immense help to the people who have been impacted by the Covid situation. The government has fixed a target of seven days to complete the distribution of the assistance money to the beneficiaries through bank accounts. The government will incur an expenditure of Rs 960 crore for this.
Speaking on the occasion, Naveen said, “due to your cooperation, we could fight successfully against Covid-19 pandemic. Our efforts of saving lives have been successful. Covid has economically and socially affected our lives. Poor people have been affected the most. You all know that, welfare of the poor people is the most important aim of my government. Covid has not yet gone. To mitigate the problems of our people, I announce to give all the beneficiaries Rs 1000 assistance. 96 lakh beneficiaries will get the benefits from this.“
He also requested the people of the state to be alert to the new Covid variant Omicron and abide by the guidelines and observe Covid appropriate behavior such as wearing masks, washing hands and maintain social distancing. We have successfully faced the situation with your cooperation and will do so in the coming days.”