Odisha Govt Increases Cremation Assistance Under Harischandra Yojana

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has increased the financial assistance for cremation under its Harischandra Yojana.

On the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday, the assistance for the poor people to enable them in cremation of their near and dear ones has been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 in rural areas and from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 in urban places and Swargadwar in Puri.

The government has deposited Rs 15,000 in the revolving fund opened in each panchayat to pay the hiked asssistance.

It may be noted that the government has been paying the money under the Harischandra Yojana from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Earlier, the government has deposited Rs 10. 19 crore in the revolving fund in all pachayats when the scheme was launched.

Gram panchayat extension officer or block extension officer has been assigned the responsibility to ensure implementation of the scheme.