Assam Releases Rs 2,000 Each to 86,000 Citizens Stranded Elsewhere

Dispur, April 20, 2020:

Assam Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced that the first set of financial assistance to 86,000 stranded Assam citizens has been announced today under the 'Assam Cares' scheme.

ALSO READ: Assam: Over 4 Lakh Migrants Stuck in Other States Seek “Help” from Govt amid Lockdown

Biswa Sarma announced that a first installment of Rs 2,000 has been disbursed to the bank accounts of the 86,000 or so people who have qualified in the first phase. The Minister further informed that a further amount will be released in the near-future to the people.

Biswa Sarma has said that it will take some further time to provide all the beneficiaries (who have passed the initial screening) with money, as not all of those who sought assistance have filled up forms.“We urged the 4 lakh people who have been verified to fill up their forms. 2,28,126 people among those have filled up their web-link forms.”, Sarma said, adding that many people are in the process of filling up the forms.

After a thorough process, such as verifying the account numbers, 99,758 accounts have been verified.

The statewise demarcation of people who called in for help is as follows:

Karnataka 66,000

Kerala 34,000

Tamil Nadu 33,000

Maharashtra 21,000

Telangana 16,000

Gujarat 5,620

Goa 4,600

West Bengal 4,512

Haryana 4,202

New Delhi 3,729

Biswa Sarma said that now that these people have been recognized, the Government can keep tabs on them and determine which trains they take and where they get down. "The biggest relief from this will be received by the people of Assam and we can now maintain their inflow, that is something we realized", Sarma said. The Minister also said that the data will held the administration to arrange their health care upon their return from the other states.

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It is pertinent to mention here that another COVID-19 patient in Assam has been released earlier today, taking the total number of cured/discharged patients to 18. Now, 15 active cases of the contagion remain in the state; one person has died so far due to complications from the virus.

ALSO READ: Assam Releases COVID-19 Patient from Sonapur, 15 Active Cases Left

The man, Hazrat Ali has been discharged today from Sonapur Civil Hospital, after two successive tests yielded a ‘negative’ result.

Sarma further prognosticated that another patient will be discharged by evening and the first phase of the COVID-19 in Assam will be over till April 28. However, he warned that the state is still not "free" from corona.

The Health Minister also informed that rapid-tests will now be performed in Assam, ironically, with kits procured from China.

Note: The Northeast Coronavirus toll is as follows:

Assam: 34

Meghalaya: 11

Mizoram: 1

Manipur: 2

Nagaland: 1

Tripura: 2

Arunachal Pradesh: 1

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