Orunodoi Scheme

Some 22 lakh beneficiaries of the Orunodoi scheme in Assam will get ₹18 extra for August to buy a National Flag or two.

What is the scheme?

Through Orunodoi — announced in the 2020-21 Budget — a monthly assistance of Rs 830 was originally transferred to women members of marginalised families of Assam (now the amount is Rs 1,000 per month). On account of being a DBT, or a Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, the money is credited directly to the bank account of the woman head of a family because they are “primary caretakers of the household”. According to a Finance Department handout, the scheme gives “a choice to the poor and needy households on how they want to spend their money”.

Who is eligible?

• The applicant, a woman, has to be a permanent resident of Assam, whose composite household income should be less than Rs 2 lakh per annum. Families with specially-abled members and divorced/widowed/separated /unmarried women are prioritised. Poorer families, those without National Food Security Act (NFSA) or ration cards, are also given priority.
• Families without any women members, MPs, MLAs (former and current), members of Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies, government officials and employees of cooperative societies are excluded from the scheme.
• Families owning four-wheelers, mechanised boats, tractors or refrigerators, ACs and washing machines, or more than 15 bighas of agricultural land, are not eligible either.
• When the scheme was launched, the government said that 18 lakh families had been identified to be eligible. After the Bodoland Territorial Council elections, the number is said to have risen to 22 lakh.

About the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign –

• This campaign is scheduled to be launched on August 15, 2022, under which people will be encouraged to hoist the national flag over their houses.
• It is aimed at invoking feelings of pride and patriotism among people and promoting awareness about the Indian flag.
• This campaign is part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and is targeting the sale and hoisting of at least 20 crore national flags across the country.
• Flag-making is expected to pick up on a mass scale at self-help groups that had pitched in with making masks and PPE kits during the Covid-19 pandemic.