Poor families to get Tk 2500, 5000 aids from PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide cash aids to around 35 lakh low-income families in the ongoing coronavirus situation and around 1 lakh farmer families who became victims of very recent natural disasters.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide Tk 2500 and Tk 5000 financial aids to each of 36 lakh families who became victims of coronavirus pandemic and natural disaster,” Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told BSS on Sunday.

He said around 35 lakh low-income families will get Tk 2500 each while around one lakh families of farmers will get Tk 5000 each.

The government will spend a total of Tk 930 crore in this regard, he added.

PMO sources said according to Department of Agricultural Extension, hailstorm and cyclonic storm on April 4 in 2021 damaged 0,301 hectares of farmland completely and 59,326 hectares partially out of total 30,94, 249 hectares in 36 districts and around 1,00,000 farmers became victims of the natural disaster.

The Agriculture Ministry recommended for considering to provide Tk 5000 financial aids each to the farmers who became victims of the natural disaster and became jobless due to Covid-19. Tk 50 crore is needed in this regard. The work of formulating the list of victim farmers (name, national identity card number and mobile number) by the Agriculture Ministry is going on. When the list will be finalized, the amount of money could be more or less.

The sources said around 35 lakh families scrutinized from 50 lakh families who became victims of coronavirus pandemic during the Mujib Year in 2019-20 fiscal were provided cash aids.

On May 12 in 2020, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the programme of providing cash aid among the victims directly in G2P process.

This time the cash aid will come from the budgetary allocation in coronavirus response fund under Finance Division budget in the revised budget of 2020-2021 fiscal.

If the proposal is considered, the cash aids can be provided very quickly as per the list kept in the database of Finance Division in light with the previous experience.

The matter of providing financial assistance again to laborers, farmers, workers, domestic helps, motor workers and others engaged in different professions, who faced financial crisis due to the restrictions enforced on movements and overall activities from April 14 last in the current 2020-21 fiscal to contain the spread of coronavirus, will be considered.

Source: BSS