Nitish inaugurates online transfer of gratuitous relief to

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday inaugurated online transfer of gratuitous relief of Rs 6,000 each among the flood-affected families and disbursed a sum of more than Rs 136 crore among over 2.27 lakh such households in the first phase.

The CM kicked off the programme for providing assistance to the flood victims under the Public Financial Management System by the click of a mouse at the CM's secretariat.

A total amount of Rs 136.58 crore was transferred directly into the bank accounts of 2,27,649 lakh families of the 15 flood hit districts in the first phase, an official release said.

The gratuitous relief of Rs 6000, included Rs 3000 cash and an equal amount for buying foodgrains, it said.

The districts receiving the benefits under the programme included Patna which witnessed incessant rains in the fourth week of September.

Other districts witnessed inundation on account of spate in river Ganga in the third week of September.

The 15 districts are- Patna, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Nawada, Nalanda, Khagaria, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Begusarai, Munger, Buxar, Katihar, Jehanabad, Arwal and Purnea.

The amount transferred will reach into the beneficiaries' account within 48 hours, the release said adding 7.22 lakh families of 616 panchayats in the 95 blocks have been hit by the calamity.

Chief Minister asked the concerned officials to ensure that the gratuitous relief amount reaches beneficiaries account before the Diwali festival, the release said.

Kumar also told officials to open bank account for those not having it and ensure they get the payment.

Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar, Disaster Management Department's Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit, Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Chanchal Kumar, Disaster Management Department's OSD Sanjay Agarwal and other senior officials and ICICI Bank officials were present on the occasion.