With workers and day laborers losing jobs in staggering numbers, the government has allocated another Tk4.70 crore and 8,450 metric tons of rice as an emergency bailout and humanitarian assistance for the poor and the working class who are badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
This is the third such allocation ever since the country went into a visible lockdown from March 26, in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Allocating the money and the rice to all 64 district commissioners (DCs) of the country, the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry has already instructed the director general of the Disaster Management Department in this regard.
In a letter dated April 2, the ministry asked the DCs to follow the instructions in distributing the relief rations among people in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Interestingly, top district administration officials were also asked to prioritize areas under the city corporations and municipalities for the relief distribution as more and more working class people have been living in those areas.
Previously, the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, in two phases, allocated nearly Tk11.25 crore and 39,667 metric tons of rice for poor people across the country since the lockdown went into effect.
A large number of people, mostly those who are dependent on daily wages across the country, became unemployed due to the lockdown which has now been extended up till April 11.
The government has enforced a nationwide lockdown in a move to implement social distancing to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Bangladesh today confirmed two more deaths from the novel coronavirus and nine new cases, raising the total number of positive diagnoses to 70. The official number of people who have died from Covid-19 in the country is eight.
