Social Welfare Department goes extra mile in releasing benefits to underprivileged

24/05/2020

SRINAGAR, May 23: While Social Welfare Department is mandated to provide help both in cash and in kind to the underprivileged sections of the society, the department has been working in a mission mode during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. The department is ensuring that benefits percolate to the destitute, poor, old aged and other socially & economically backward and deserving beneficiaries under its various schemes.
While giving a detailed account of works being conducted by the department during the present situation, the Director General Social Welfare Department Kashmir, Rukhsana Gani said that the main aim of the department is to extend helping hand to various categories of beneficiaries and for this they primarily have two schemes namely Pension and Scholarship schemes.
''Since people are facing financial difficulties in this lockdown period due to COVID-19, the department has given an advance pension of two months to 3, 20,000 beneficiaries under Integrated Social Security Scheme (ISSS) scheme in Kashmir division," she said.
Giving details DG Social Welfare said that government wanted to cover more and more people for relief so that no one among deserving is left to fend for themselves in absence of any income earning opportunity and for this, "An additional sanction for 1, 70,000 beneficiaries was made under ISSS scheme in April, of which 85,000 are from Kashmir Division and subsequently pension for the month of April was also released to them .Overall 8 lakh beneficiaries in the UT of J&K have so far received benefits under the ISSS scheme".
Under National Social Assistance Program (NSAP), a centrally sponsored scheme, a total of 1, 50,000 persons have been provided benefits in terms of pension which is directly credited into their account.
While elaborating on other initiatives, DG Social Welfare said that under Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), assistance of Rupees five hundred each has been provided to the NSAP beneficiaries and the second instalment of Rs 500 per person, which is over and above their regular pension, has also been sanctioned and will be released to them shortly.
"Despite lock down the benefits of scholarships is being extended to children of poor, other backward categories, minorities, economically backward classes, manual scavengers, sweepers which have seen 250 percent increase in comparison to last year with 8 lakh such children covered in UT of J&K and 5.5 lakh in Kashmir alone, which in itself is a bigger achievement” she added. DG Social Welfare also lauded the efforts of other sister concerns of the department and said that they are working shoulder to shoulder with Social Welfare department in mitigating the sufferings of the needy.

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