HP Government earmarks Rs 200 lakh for NFAS

Shimla, Jun 17 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 200 lakh under the National Family Assistance Scheme (NFAS) for providing financial assistance of Rs 10,000 in the case of a death of the only earning member of a below poverty line (BPL) family.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary said of the Rs 200 lakh, the state government had already directed the officials to release a sum of Rs 29.70 lakh to the eligible families.

She said it had been brought to her notice that as many as 297 cases were pending with the Rural Development Department under the NFAS.

The amount of Rs 10,000 each would be disbursed to the eligible families to ameliorate their sufferings, he said and added that out of these 297 cases, 127 cases were from Kangra district, 65 from Mandi and 25 from Shimla and the remaining from other districts of the state.

Ms Chaudhary soon after assuming in office the present BJP Government increased Social Security Pension from Rs 200 to Rs 300 thereby benefiting about 2.38 lakh families.

Similarly, the daily salary of the daily wagers was also enhanced from Rs 75 to Rs 100, which benefited nearly five lakh families, she said.

UNI AS HS SW VC1930