'390 families have applied for Covid assistance so far'

New Delhi: The Chief Minister's Covid-19 Family Financial Assistance Scheme within three days of its launch has received applications from as many as 390 potential beneficiaries, the Delhi government's Social Welfare Department said in a statement on Sunday.

The scheme, launched on July 6, has seen 220 applicants as of July 9 for the pension amount of Rs 2,500 while 170 beneficiaries have applied for the one-time ex gratia amount of Rs 50,000. While giving out the information, Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said that the data is as of July 9 and as more and more people get informed about it, more applications are expected to come in.

A senior official from the Social Welfare Department told Millennium Post that representatives from the department have started going door-to-door to assist the people in case they face trouble while filling the form or attaching the requisite documents.

The Department is working on increasing awareness about the scheme and the representatives have been given briefs on how to interact with the grieving families as well.

The department, in a statement, said that since the scheme had been launched recently, it may take time for the beneficiaries to collect all the documents. However, in the coming days, the process of application will be fast-tracked.

"Right now we have got 390 application forms under this scheme. But we will not wait for beneficiaries to fill the application form. Our representatives will also help in filling the application form by going door-to-door. At this hour, we want to help the families as soon as possible. Our representatives will not find faults in their documentation, rather they will help beneficiaries in the documentation process," the minister said.

Under the scheme, an ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000 per member will be given to the families who lost a member to Covid while Rs 2,500 per month will be given upon the death of the breadwinner of the family and Rs 2,500 per month to the children till the age of 25, who lost both their parents. In addition to financial assistance, one member of the affected families will also be enrolled as a Civil Defense Volunteer. Along with this, the Delhi government will also take care of the education and medical care of the dependent children.

Applications for the assistance scheme are available on the Delhi government's http://edistrict.delhigovt.nic.in portal.