Govt encourages families affected by COVID-19 to apply for cash grant

• Each eligible family to get Rs 10,000

KATHMANDU: The government on Thursday urged eligible families to apply for cash grants under the relief scheme announced earlier, for poor households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the relief plan included in the budget for the current fiscal year 2021/22, the government shall distribute Rs 10,000 in one-off subsidy to each eligible family, which is the first time to do so after the coronavirus had battered the country twice since early 2020. A total of 500,000 families will benefit from the government's scheme at a cost of Rs 5 billion. As per the notice issued by the Ministry of Finance, workers unemployed after losing jobs amid the pandemic, daily wage earners, agricultural labourers, rickshaw pullers, tourism-related porters and families losing sole breadwinners, among others, can apply for the government's support at ward offices within 15 days. More than 700,000 people alone lost their jobs due to the first wave of COVID-19, a study conducted by the National Planning Commission showed. READ ALSO:

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