The Government has received about 200,000 applications for the Caring & Sharing Scheme, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said.

He told reporters today that to facilitate eligible people to apply for the scheme, more convenient measures have been put in place, such as providing additional application forms and increasing the number of hotlines.

For successful applicants without a bank account, the Government is exploring more venues for their collection of cash cheques, he added.

Mr Cheung said the application deadline is end of April, and the Government has started processing the applications.