Enugu State Government has begun sensitisation of residents, to participate in Federal Government’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Register (RRR) cash transfer for the vulnerable.
The Coordinator of State Operations and Coordinating Unit (SOCU), Enugu State, Mrs Joy-Blossom Eneh, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the campaign was meant to create RRR awareness for people of the state.
NAN reports that the COVID-19 RRR is an intervention by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, in partnership with the World Bank, to cushion the economic shocks of the global pandemic.
The beneficiaries are poor Nigerians in urban and semi-urban areas, currently not benefiting from the National Social Safety- Nets Project (NASSP) such as Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), N-Power and others.
Eneh said the programme was designed to target the enrolment of those made poorer and vulnerable by the pandemic, which would be done using cell phone messaging services (SMS) technology.
According to her, the SMS will provide clear guidance through a USSD Code on how people can apply and register in few simple steps.
She stated that the applicants must be cell phone owners, living within the targeted geographic locations.
“There is no payment involved whatsoever, and registration is free of charge at any point.
“Mobile phone numbers of successful applicants will be linked to digitised bank accounts, to receive cash support under an expanded Cash Transfer programme of the government,” Eneh said.
The coordinator noted that the state government had been appealing to low-income earners in the state to key into the programme when it begins.
According to her, the programme will run for six months, urging the people to take it seriously.
“The consultant will send us USSD code for the opening of the portal and if you register, a number will call you.
“Please when the call comes, feel free to answer the person, as the fellow will be requesting for your Bank Verification Number (BVN).
“But for now, we are waiting for the code and once it comes, it will be released to the people in the state to register,” she said.
Eneh noted that the campaign was yielding results as residents were already calling to ask for the USSD code, to apply.
She, however, stated that the programme would be targeting large applicants, to be able to identify the vulnerable.
The coordinator said the code was designed according to the different local government areas of the state.
“Code generated for Enugu South Local Government will not be same with the one for the Enugu North,” she noted.
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