Around 14 lakh families, mainly working-class people but currently jobless due to the pandemic and floods and people belonging to the marginalised groups as well, will get Tk. 2,500 cash each as Eid gift from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, officials familiar with the matter said.
According to the Finance Ministry, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced to provide cash assistance to 50 lakh marginalised families (each family to receive Tk. 2,500) in the face of coronavirus outbreak. The government will spend Tk 1,250 crore for this purpose.
Later it was found that out of 50 lakh families, the list of 28 lakh families was faulty. For this reason, after sending cash assistance to 16,16,356 families in the first phase, the process of sending money to the remaining 33,83,644 families was halted.
Later, the Ministry of Finance asked the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief to revise the list from the field level and send it again. The revised list reached the finance ministry in the first half of this month.
The Ministry of Finance then finalised a list of 13,83,644 marginal families through checking and sorting the national identity card, information kept in the Election Commission's server, mobile number, bank account, etc.
Following the final list, the process of sending money to those enlisted families began last week. According to the revised list, the government will spend 345 crore, 91 lakh and 10 thousand taka as cash assistance to these marginalised families. There is an allocation of Tk 500 crore for this purpose.
However, after checking the information of the remaining 20 lakh families, allocated money will be released again after Eid, said official sources in the Ministry of Finance.
Md Mohsin, Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, said, “Cash assistance will be given to 5 million families in phases. This time the list has been sent to the finance ministry after necessary verification.”
Asked about whether any action would be taken against those who are responsible for the preparation of faulty list, the secretary said, “We are looking into the matter. Action will be taken if any officer is found guilty. But so far, we have not received any such information.”
It is learned that many of the remaining 20 lakh families do not have bank accounts or mobile banking accounts or there are discrepancies in their national identity card information. Therefore, after Eid, the Ministry of Finance will take initiative to release cash incentives by revising the list again.
It is mentionable that the government is trying its level best to tackle the economic breakdown resulted in by coronavirus and flash floods. To that end, various effective measures have been taken by the government to help insolvent and marginalised people financially.