Participants listen as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (unseen) addresses a programme for the distribution of financial assistance under the Orunodoi scheme, in Guwahati, Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Gueahati
About 40 lakh women received ₹9,000 each under a beneficiary scheme in poll-bound Assam on Tuesday (March 10, 2026). The total cash disbursed—₹3,600 crore—marked the biggest ever single-day direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the State.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the payment under the flagship Orunodoi scheme for families below the poverty line included a Bihu bonus of ₹4,000. Bohag Bihu, also called Rongali Bihu, is celebrated for a month from mid-April.
The remaining ₹5,000 comprised four monthly instalments from January to April. Under the scheme launched in 2020, each beneficiary receives ₹1,250 per month. Mr. Sarma insisted that the additional payment was not an election freebie.
“Through #Orunodoi, one of India’s first beneficiary transfer schemes, we have been assisting eligible families with monthly financial assistance since 2020, and it continues,” he posted on X.
He said the scheme, along with other welfare programmes, had helped pull lakhs of people in Assam out of poverty and provided them with a comprehensive security net.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has disbursed ₹17,000 crore since the scheme was launched to empower people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Sarma said that the pandemic hit women the hardest, making them struggle to run their families.
“The Jan Dhan bank accounts were instrumental in implementing Orunodoi. It could not have been possible if people did not have bank accounts,” he said while addressing beneficiaries during one of the 3,800 gatherings across the State where the transfers were made online.
“The Jan Dhan bank accounts were instrumental in implementing Orunodoi. It would not have been possible if people did not have bank accounts,” he said while addressing beneficiaries during one of the 3,800 gatherings across the State where the transfers were made online.
Mr. Sarma said the scheme covered about 90% of the eligible women in the State. “We will need a BJP government to cover the remaining 10%,” he said, vowing to take more people out of poverty.
He added that the BJP would provide free pulses, sugar, salt, and mustard oil to the eligible families if re-elected, besides half a kilogram of tea. At present, the Assam Government provides a monthly combo of 1 kg of pulses, 1 kg of sugar, and 1 kg of salt at ₹100.
Published – March 10, 2026 07:17 pm IST
