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The Assam government has decided to give ration cards to 40 lakh people in the state, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held here. Sarma said: "These 40 lakh people will get free rations. In each assembly constituency of Assam, at least 30,000 people will be freshly included to get this benefit." He asserted that this will ensure proper nutritional benefits to families deprived of such facilities. The Assam government has taken another major decision in the cabinet meeting. The state government will be providing an allowance of Rs 700 to the bank account of expecting mothers who will do registration to give birth to children at a government hospital. Earlier, the state government used to send the mother and baby home from the hospital in a government vehicle under a flagship scheme 'Adarani Sewa'. The mothers were also handed over a kit for the baby under this scheme. Sarma said that nowadays, most of the mothers and newborn babies go home in their own vehicles and hence, they cannot take benefits of the 'Adarani Sewa' scheme. "So, we decided to discontinue that and introduce a new scheme for the expecting mother," he added. Under this new scheme called 'Janani Suraksha Yojana', mothers of newborn babies are to receive Rs 2,100 in rural areas and Rs 1,700 in urban areas at the time of leaving the hospital as additional financial relief. The Chief Minister further said that at least 5 lakh pregnant women in Assam will be benefited from this new initiative. --IANS tdr/pgh ( 277 Words) 2022-12-07-23:16:02 (IANS)
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