Metro
Kwara Conditional Cash Transfer: 10,000 aged, vulnerable adults shortlisted
The Kwara Government says disbursement of N10,000 to beneficiaries of ‘Owo Arugbo’, the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) component of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme will begin on Nov. 30.
The government in a statement by Rafiu Ajakaye, Chief Press Secretary to Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Friday in Ilorin, said that the scheme was aimed at giving succour to indigent and vulnerable adults aged 60 years and above in the state.
According to him, 10,000 persons have been captured to receive funds under the initiative.
He quoted the coordinator of the programme, Mohammed Brimah as saying that the 10,000 beneficiaries were selected from the initial enumeration of a total of 17,941 potential beneficiaries after a rigorous screening process for transparency and quality assurance.
“The names generated were compared against the list of beneficiaries of both the National Cash Transfer Program (NCTP) in Kwara and the Special Grant Transfer (SGT) programme under the Youth Employment and Social Support (YESSO) to ensure that only those who had not benefited from either of the two schemes would benefit from Owo Arugbo.
“We were therefore left with 10,000 beneficiaries as the targeted number for the first phase of disbursement of Owo Arugbo from the initial 17, 941 enumerated across the state,” the coordinator said.
He stated that payment would be made on a bi-monthly basis, giving each beneficiary the sum of N6,000 naira once every two months, starting with the November/December cycle.
“Elders everywhere deserve care and attention. Many become destitute and lose their lives to hunger, avoidable sickness and depression as a result of neglect. This administration seeks to guard against this within available resources.
“The sum of N6,000 every two months bolsters the chances of an improved diet, which results in higher life expectancy for many people.
“Unlike Owo Isowo, another people-oriented scheme under KWASSIP designed for petty traders, Owo Arugbo is totally free and non–refundable. It is a social safety net for the elderly and vulnerable.
“Beneficiaries are spread across all the 16 LGAs in the state in line with Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s vision to get dividends of governance to every doorstep,” he said.
He added that Gov. AbdulRazaq’s administration had in May, released the sum of N300m to fund the state’s social investment programmes targeted at the poorest of the poor, including the aged, widows, and others at the lowest rung of the society.
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