Tuesday 19th of March 2024
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   National
PM’s big financial help makes low-income group all smiles
  Date : 19-03-2024

None is left from the package help of Tk 3200 cr.

Abdul Khaleque Khandker: When the repeated lockdown and various restriction to the movement have vitiated public life especially of the low-income group of the country, that moment Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has come again with a big financial package for the help of the working class people.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday announced five more packages equivalent to Taka 3,200 crore with a view to alleviating sufferings of  low-income people of the country who are hit hard by the ongoing restrictions imposed to check the transmission of the Coronavirus.

Soon after this declaration, the low-income group heaved a sigh of relief. Ramijuddin a day labourer reacted to this announcement said, “Our Prime Minister of Bangladesh understands the hardship of the poor and working people. She has always stood beside us during any national crisis and this time, the benign PM has extended her helping hands for us the needy and working class of people”.

“During this time movement restriction and Corona pandemic, we are taking this announcement of our Prime Minister as the biggest Eid bonus for us just ahead of the Eid ul Azha, one of the two biggest religious rituals of the Muslims all over the world. Bangabandhu’s daughter and Prime Minister has made us all smiles”, Jahangir Sheikh, a bus driver reacted his feeligs.

Soon after the PM’s declaration of the financial packages, the conscious citizens of the country passed opinions. They said, it is a well-thought-out decision of Sheikh Hasina about the countrymen. The majority population of the country being economically weak, their livelihood is based on their day-to-day labour, and the failure or disruption to which means their sufferings. But through this declaration, the PM made them understand that she is never oblivious of sufferings and plight of the people of the country, be they may low-income group or any other kind of people of the country.

It is learnt that under the new incentives, Taka 450 crore has been allocated for day-laborers (14,37,389), transport workers (2,35,033), small traders (50,445) and shipping workers (1,603) who will receive Taka 2500 each in cash.

Taka 150 crore has been allocated for special open market sale (OMS) centers to be set up at 813 places across the country from July 25 to August 7 for 14 days to help the low-income people in urban areas (with 20,000 metric tons rice and 14,000 metric tons flour).

Besides, Taka 100 crore is allocated for special assistance in favor of the Deputy Commissioners for providing food assistance in response to the request of the public on telephone number 333.

Taka 1,500 crore is allocated for Palli Sanchay Bank, Karmasangsthan Bank and PKSF for financing job creation activities in rural areas with  the additional allocation of Taka 3,200 crore for the purpose of providing loan assistance (at 4% interest).

In addition, Taka 1,000 crore has been allocated for providing Working Capital Loan Assistance at 4 percent interest through the banking system for the purpose of paying the salaries, allowances of the employees of the hotels, motels and theme parks in the tourism sector.

Earlier in the last year, the prime minister announced a total of 23 stimulus packages of Taka 124,053 crore to keep rolling the wheels of country’s economy against the back drop of Covid-19 outbreak.

When the first wave of Covid-19 hit the country, the Prime Minister provided cash support of Taka 2,500 each to 36.50 lakh poor families and vulnerable groups across the country.

This year, the premier in the second phase of financial assistance also distributed Taka 2,500 to some 36.50 lakh families hit hard by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the first wave of Covid-19, a total of nearly 2.5 crore people including day-labourers, transport workers, hawkers, rickshaw pullers, school and madrasa teachers, students, Imams and Muazzins along with people of other religious organizations, journalists and other low-income people were brought under the government’s assistance due to prime minister’s humanitarian assistance initiative.



  
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