On Women’s Day, cash incentives announced in Assam, Manipur

Guwahati

The Assam and Manipur governments announced cash incentives for women and their families on Sunday (March 8, 2026), coinciding with International Women’s Day.

In a social media broadcast on the seventh day of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jan Ashirwad Yatra, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the State government would transfer ₹9,000 each to approximately 40 lakh beneficiary families under the Orunodoi scheme through direct benefit transfer (DBT) on March 10.

He urged the beneficiaries to attend special meetings at designated venues to receive the financial assistance. The total amount to be disbursed under the scheme would be about ₹3,600 crore, making it one of the largest financial assistance programmes in Assam.

The Chief Minister had earlier said the disbursement would be the largest single-day transfer of funds to beneficiaries in Assam’s history.

Launched on October 2, 2020, Orunodoi is a major DBT initiative aimed at empowering women and supporting poor families. The Chief Minister said the ₹9,000 included a Bihu bonus and four monthly instalments under the scheme from January to April.

In Imphal, Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh announced ₹350 crore to be earmarked for assistance to women affected by the ethnic conflict. He said the amount for the next fiscal would benefit 3.5 lakh women in the State.

Speaking at an International Women’s Day event, he hoped that people displaced by the “unprecedented crisis” in Manipur would be able to return home.