Validation of cyclone hit Bhubaneswar city vendors begins

A month-and-a-half after the cyclone Fani battered Odisha, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Wednesday started validating a list of the city's street vendors affected by the calamity in order to provide each of them an assistance of Rs 10,000, officials said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced last month that about 30,000 street vendors in 11 urban local bodies of the state will get a cash assistance of Rs 10,000 each.

The process for verifying the list of street vendors has started in BMC areas and it may take five-six days, the officials said adding that it will be held in other 10 urban local bodies later.

The capital city has an estimated 21,483 street vendors - 2,440 mobile vendors, 1,276 peripatetic vendors and 17,767 stationary vendors - and this list is being verified, officials said.

They said the assistance of Rs 10,000 will be given to Fani-affected vendors through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode.

The validation is being carried out in presence of ward officers, community organisers and office-bearers of the vending zones in respective wards.

The cyclone that made landfall at a wind speed of about 200 kmph near Puri on May 3 has claimed 64 lives and affected over 1.65 crore people in 14 districts of Odisha.

The officials said, under the Chief Minister's Relief Package, Rs 2,500 cash component was given to 92,721 beneficiaries with ration cards out of 1,04,814 across the city. Similarly, the rice component of 50 kg was given to 1,00,005 persons till June 18.

On the other hand, an additional monthly pension was given to 13,847 people out of 21,512 beneficiaries under the various social security pension schemes.

Under the social security pension schemes, people get the money as old age pension, widow pension, and pension for persons with disability, unmarried BPL woman above 30 years, HIV patients, leprosy patients and mentally challenged persons.

In order the help the people in distress after the severe cyclonic storm, people without ration cards were also given the cash component of Rs 2,500 by June 18.