Amid the coronavirus pandemic to stand beside the poor and those suffering from joblessness, the Bangladesh Government has allocated Tk6.30 crore and 600 tons of rice as relief.
Of the total amount, Tk4.70 crore have been allocated for distributing as stimulus and Tk1.60 crore has been allocated for baby food.
As the relief was approved by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the Department of Disaster Management issued an order on Monday, allocating the relief materials to the deputy commissioners (DCs) of all districts for distribution.
The DCs are directed to distribute relief by following the guideline for Humanitarian Assistance Program.
According to the allocation notice, vegetables and other food items can be bought to distribute as relief. Also, the relief recipients can be asked to plant five trees in return.
In case of baby food, government purchase rules and other regulations have to be followed.
Powdered milk has to be bought from Milk Vita following government to government (G2G) method to be distributed as baby food. However, this milk should not be given to children under five years of age.
Other than that, food including dates, biscuits, fortified oil, brown sugar, semolina, lentil, fortified rice, sago, water purifier tablets, nuts, readymade food, can be bought locally and distributed as baby food.
The deputy commissioners are ordered to distribute baby food after buying the food with the allocated money and keeping a record of all the expenses for future scrutiny.
The government has so far provided Tk977,772,264 as stimulus and 72,467 tons of rice as food relief.