The lockdown due to the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic has hit the country hard again in both monetary and livelihood aspects. The vulnerable groups who are losing their jobs and small businesses are struggling to survive.
A large number of people have lost their jobs and many others have no jobs during the pandemic while the poor are facing financial hardships.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the government has always been beside them by providing stimulus and aid. Now in this difficult time again, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed to provide monetary support to 600,000 families, who are squarely affected by the pandemic. Each of the families will get Tk 2515 through mobile financial services (MFS).
Proper listing of the appropriate beneficiaries and
transfer of the cash payments to the ones who
deserve should be government’s main priority
Alongside cash aid, the government last year, like this year, has also taken various initiatives for the marginal and other jobless people due to the lockdown. Last time, we saw that while providing the vulnerable groups with cash aids through MFS, irregularities occurred as the lists of the vulnerable were manipulated, which were created by some greedy people associated with the concerned authority. As a result, those who were definitely in need of the aid did not get it. Therefore, this time with strict monitoring the government should make sure that no irregularities or manipulations are done with the authentic list of vulnerable groups.
The significant point here will be how well the government can manage to curb down corruption while distributing the incentives from these various stimulus packages. Proper listing of the appropriate beneficiaries and transfer of the cash payments to the ones who deserve should be the government's main priority.