This Durga Puja, more than 37 lakh women across Assam are receiving a tangible festive gift from the state government — a bump in their monthly direct-benefit transfer. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Monday, 12 October 2026 that the Orunodoi scheme payout has been enhanced to ₹1,500 per month, effective this month, giving beneficiaries extra spending power exactly when they need it most.

What Orunodoi is — and why the timing matters

The Orunodoi scheme is Assam's flagship direct-benefit-transfer programme targeting women from economically weaker households, depositing cash directly into their bank accounts every month. Launched by the BJP-led state government, it positions women — specifically mothers and sisters — as the primary financial agents within their families, giving them unconditional purchasing power rather than subsidies routed through intermediaries.

Durga Puja is the single largest festive-spending window in Assam and across much of eastern India. Markets surge, new clothing is bought, family gatherings are funded. Timing a benefit hike to land in October, at the peak of the festive calendar, is a deliberate choice to maximise the real-world impact felt by beneficiaries on the ground.

₹1,500 a month: what the enhanced figure means for 37 lakh families

At ₹1,500 per beneficiary per month, the scheme now channels significantly more into the hands of over 37 lakh women — a scale that translates into hundreds of crores of rupees flowing directly into household budgets statewide. Each beneficiary is typically the primary woman member of a low-income household, meaning the ripple effect touches an even larger number of dependants.

The hike also signals the government's continued upward revision of the scheme amount — an incremental approach to expanding the effective value of the transfer over successive years, keeping pace with inflation and rising aspirations.

The political arithmetic of a welfare milestone at festival time

Chief Minister Sarma framed the announcement in explicitly familial terms — 'mothers and sisters' who now have 'one more reason to smile' this Durga Puja. That language is deliberate: Orunodoi has been positioned from its inception as a recognition of women's unpaid labour and their centrality to household welfare, rather than charity.

With 37 lakh-plus active beneficiaries, the scheme represents one of the largest women-centric direct-transfer programmes in any northeastern state. A festive-season enhancement, announced publicly on the day of the festival, ensures maximum visibility — both for the women receiving the transfer and for the political message it carries.

As Assam's families light lamps and gather for Durga Puja, ₹1,500 arriving in 37 lakh accounts is the kind of policy that doesn't just get announced — it gets felt.