Bangladesh to give Tk 2,500 to each of 5m households amid coronavirus crisis

The government will give five million families Tk 2,500 each in cash aid to help them cope up with the coronavirus crisis.

It has allocated Tk 12.5 billion for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s “gift” to the households affected by the crisis, her Deputy Press Secretary Ashraful Alam

Khokan said on Wednesday.

Around 20 million people will benefit from the scheme estimating that each of the families has four members on average, he said.

The prime minister will launch the scheme at the Ganabhaban on Thursday, according to her office.

Local-level committees, which have been formed with representatives from the district and Upazila administrations, union council chairpersons and members, teachers and influential people, made the lists of the people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The beneficiaries will include rickshawpullers, daily-wage workers, construction workers, farm labourers, salespersons, employees of small businesses, poultry workers, transport workers, and hawkers.

They will get the money via mobile financing service providers Nagad, bKash, Rocket and SureCash. The government will pay transaction fees.

Around 20 million of five million other families are already covered under the Vulnerable Group Feeding or VGF programme that has been scaled up amid the outbreak.

The government will continue giving allowances to freedom fighters, senior citizens, widows, students and people with disabilities, Khokan said.