Nitish Kumar to distribute Rs 136.58 crore among 2.27 lakh flood-hit families

PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday distributed over Rs 136.58 crore through direct benefit transfer (DBT) among 2.27 lakh verified flood-affected families in 15 districts of the state. He asked the officials to ensure the payment of Rs 6,000 gratuitous relief (GR) money before Diwali to all the families affected by the floods and heavy rain in the third and fourth weeks of September.

As per data provided by the state disaster management department (DMD), 7.22 lakh families were affected in the September floods and heavy rain in 616 panchayats under 95 blocks in 15 districts. The affected districts are Patna, Bhojpur, Buxar , Bhagalpur, Nawada , Nalanda, Khagaria, Samastipur, Lakhisarai , Begusarai, Munger, Katihar , Purnia, Jehanabad and Arwal .

“All the affected families must be paid (the GR money) before Diwali. Similarly, the drought-hit families should also be paid before Diwali,” Nitish said after launching the process of GR money transfer directly to the bank accounts of the flood and rain affected families.

With the click of a mouse, a sum of Rs6,000 was transferred directly to the bank accounts of each verified family through public financial management system (PFMS) with the help of National Informatics Centre. In the first phase, a total sum of Rs136,58,94,000 was transferred in the bank accounts of 2,27,649 people at the rate of Rs6,000 per family.

“The transferred amount will show in the beneficiary accounts in the next 48 hours. The beneficiaries will be informed about it also through an SMS from the bank,” a disaster management department (DMD) official told TOI.

Nitish further said some flood and drought affected families in each block and district still don’t have any bank accounts. He asked the officials to identify such families and get their accounts opened in the nearby banks.

Earlier in July this year, 13.20 lakh families were affected by the floods in 921 panchayats under 97 blocks in 12 districts of the state. Most of these families have already received Rs6,000 in their bank accounts, a CMO official said.