The Kwara State Government has begun disbursement of its token of support for 13,416 petty traders and others at the lowest rung of the economic pyramid — another layer of the state government’s response to the recent removal of fuel subsidy.

The one-off disbursement is made through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme, and the beneficiaries are mainly petty traders and vulnerable individuals earlier enumerated under the programme.

At least, 1,551 petty traders and 11,865 safety net beneficiaries earlier captured are involved in this phase, according to a statement by the KWASSIP Office.

The palliative support was contained in a government house statement signed by Mrs. Roseline Ajanaku, Executive Secretary, KWASSIP on Tuesday.

The disbursement comes a few weeks after the government rolled out a plethora of palliatives to support different segments of the state, including public sector workers and students.

The governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, had earlier approved a slew of multibillion naira palliatives to neutralise the effects of the recent removal of fuel subsidy, cutting across different sectors and demographies of the state and these included N10,000 cash support for public sector workers, staggered three working days for workers, not on essential services, payment of new hazard and skipping allowances, and 100% CONMESS for consultants and medical doctors and approved a new regime of allowances for nurses working for the state government.

The governor also announced a payment of N10,000 as a bursary to each tertiary institution student as well as free bus services to students of tertiary institutions in the state capital.

The government also directed the distribution of 1,200 bags of grains as palliatives to the most vulnerable, using the local government administrations and community-based groups to generate the list of beneficiaries in the state.