Dispose ofF ration card applications expeditiously for timely payment of assistance: CM to officials

Patna, Apr 5 () Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar onSunday instructed officials to clear pending applications forration cards expeditiously so that financial assistance of Rs1,000 could be transfered to every card holding familiesaccounts to help them deal with hardship due to lockdownnecessitated by coronavirus outbreak.Kumar gave the direction at a review meeting on thecoronavirus outbreak with the Chief Secretary and other seniorofficials here. Ration card applications which have been rejected or arepending should be reviewed afresh. Those which have beenaccepted but cards not issued to the beneficiaries must bedisposed off quickly after examining them so that thebeneficiaries avail the assistance/relief provided by thestate government in view of the situation arising out of thecoronavirus, Kumar said in a release. He ordered the officials to complete the verification ofapplications within three days to ensure that beneficiariesget assistance at the earliest, the release said. It may be noted that Kumar had on April 3 asked officialsto ensure providing financial assistance of Rs 1,000 to eachration card holding families by completing the aadhaar seedingof their cards at the earliest. While reviewing the issue of providing agriculture inputsubsidy to the affected farmers for their crop damage due tountimely rains/hailstorm in the month of March, the CMdirected the officials to immediately transfer the agricultureinput subsidy amount into the farmers accounts for which thestate government has already sanctioned Rs 518.42 crore. A decision has been taken to give Rs 1,000 as specialassistance to each individual hailing from the state, who havebeen stranded in other states due to a nationwide lockdown,Kumar said. He directed officials to speed up the process ofverification of applications received from those stuck outsidethe state and transfer the amount into their accounts. People should not to get panicky as the government istaking every possible measures to tackle with the problem ofCOVID-19, the CM said while exhorting them o stay indoors.ARSNS SNS