A sum of Rs 10.35 crore was transferred on the inaugural day of the programme. (File)
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday launched a scheme to provide special assistance of Rs 1,000 each to the natives of Bihar stranded in other states due to the nationwide lockdown prompted by coronavirus.
Mr Kumar inaugurated the scheme by a click of the mouse at CMs official bungalow 1, Aney Marg, transferring money in the bank accounts of the beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), an official release said.
A sum of Rs 10.35 crore was transferred on the inaugural day of the programme in the accounts of 1,03,579 people, it said.
A total of 2,84,674 applications were received from the stranded people so far and the process is on, it added.
Bihar became the first state to provide special assistance of Rs 1000 to its people stuck outside the state, it claimed.
The chief minister directed the officials to ensure that other beneficiaries get the benefit at the earliest after completing the verification process.
Mr Kumar had recently given a direction to provide Rs 1,000 as special assistance from Chief Minister Relief Fund to each individual stranded in other states due to a nationwide lockdown on account of spread of COVID-19.
They had apprised the state government of their problems and difficulties on various helpline numbers of the Chief Ministers Secretariat, Bihar Bhawan and control room number of states Disaster Management Department.
On Mr Kumar's directive, the CMs Secretariat had sought feedback from these people.
In view of the difficulties being faced by the people, the state government had decided to give monetary help to mitigate their woes.
People, who had informed about their problems on the helplines numbers, were given a link http://aapda.bih.nic.in via SMS on their mobile phone numbers.
Out of 2,84,674 applications received so far, the largest number of 55,264 was from Delhi, followed by 41,050 from Haryana, Maharashtra (30,576), Gujarat (25,638), Uttar Pradesh (23832), Punjab (15,596), Karnataka (15,428), Tamil Nadu (11,914), Rajasthan (11,773), West Bengal (9527), Telenagana (7245), Madhya Pradesh (5690) and Jharkhand (5359).
Out of the 1,03,579 people who received special assistance, the highest number of 7281 hailed from Saran district, followed by 6821 from Muzaffarpur, Madhubani (6792), East Champaran (6569), Sitamarhi (6348), Siwan (5897), Darbhanga (5026), Samastipur (4264) and Gopalganj (4240).
The government received over 3,000 phone calls from such people, he said,adding they were told to stay wherever they are.
Camps are being run for helping the people living in Delhi and other cities, the CM said,adding people are being served food packets at 10 camps in Delhi.
Mr Kumar asked officials to ensure that necessary items were made available at these camps. He also asked to monitor relief camps run within the state.
Prominent among those who were present on the occasion included Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, Speaker of the Assembly Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar and CMs Principal Secretary Chanchal Kumar.
Disaster Management department minister Lakshmeshwar Rai and its Principal Secretary Pratyay Amrit joined the function via video-conferencing.