Two-thirds of poor households yet to get Tk 2,500 income support
An astounding two-thirds of the 50 lakh poor households hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic are but to receive Tk 2,500 each in cash support because of the flawed list although they have been languishing in poverty for the last three months.
The government has were able to disburse funds among 16.16 lakh targeted people, according to a posture paper prepared by the finance division. The file has been delivered to the Prime Minister's Business office.
Another 2.17 lakh beneficiaries are set to receive the cash support.
After the government set up the countrywide shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, it allocated Tk 1,250 crore for the 50 lakh poor families whose breadwinners have lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown.
In order to execute the duty properly, another Tk 8 crore premiered. Primary Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the fund disbursement on May 14.
Rickshaw and van-pullers, day labourers, construction industry workers, agriculture farmers, personnel of shops, persons employed at smaller businesses, poultry labourers and transportation workers are supposed to be the targeted beneficiaries. They might get the cash support through accounts of portable financial services (MFSs).
MFS companies Nagad, bKash, Rocket and SureCash received the duty to transfer the money to 17 lakh, 15 lakh, 10 lakh and eight lakh account-holders respectively.
The info and communications technology division and the disaster and relief operations ministry compiled the set of the potential beneficiaries from across the country and dispatched it to the finance division.
The finance ministry receives the lists from the offices of the deputy commissioners and these lists are verified and evaluated additional by the disaster operations and relief ministry, according to a paper of the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Bangladesh's back-up schemes will be historically marred by fragmentation, weak targeting and inefficiency and the weaknesses were again manifested at the same time when the poor have already been facing most likely the worst crisis within their lives.
The finance division cross-checked the list with various other available databases and struck off the brands of 493,200 persons for anomalies.
Of these, 107,386 will be the beneficiaries of different social safety net schemes and 2,855 are federal government officials. Some 79,621 are explained as vagabonds, housewives, boatmen, road urchins, disabled, imams of mosques, tea labourers, tea stall owners, beggars and unemployed.
The most depressing will there be were 557 persons in the list who each owned Tk 5 lakh in savings certificates. There were 6,786 pensioners and 295,919 titles had been included for more often than once, the positioning paper showed.
The finance division also found inconsistency in information about 22.86 lakh people. This prompted the PMO on June 15 to buy the upazila nirbahi officers (UNOs) to rectify the list. The list was sent to the UNOs.
The list includes 8.29 lakh people who didn't have a registered cellular phone number against the NID and 6.38 lakh people have cellular phone numbers different from those authorized with the NID.
There are 7.98 lakh people whose NID quantity and the day of births aren't similar to the data source of the Election Commission.
If the anomalies are corrected from discipline level, it might be possible to disburse the funds, the paper explained.
The finance division recommended identifying the mobile phone numbers that are being utilized by the potential beneficiaries and opening Tk 10-account beneath the supervision of the upazila administration if the targeted groups don't possess mobile phone numbers against the NID or smart cards.
It also called for examining properly the NID or smart cards and the day of birth, posting the cellular phone numbers in exact file format and stating the actual occupation of the beneficiaries.
A new list of 879,350 people would need to be prepared now.
"The finance ministry and the ICT division are working on it. We'd get the brand new lists from the district and upazila administrations soon. Hopefully, the concern would be resolved very quickly," Disaster Management and Comfort Secretary Md Mohsin advised The Daily Star yesterday.
Meanwhile, the central lender has ordered banks to open Tk 10 deposit accounts on the basis of the NID or smart cards and certification simply by the UNOs for the persons who don't have cell phones or can't start MFS accounts.
Steps must be taken up to disburse the money through a good debit voucher if no cheque e book is available, the central lender said in a good circular on July 6.
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, income of 51 per cent households plunged to zero even though a massive 95 per cent persons suffered losses in salary, according to a study of Brac.
Around 62 % of low-cash flow wage earners shed their work opportunities following the public holiday was declared in late March, it showed.
Due to the profits shock emanating from the pandemic, 77.2 % of the vulnerable non-poor fell below the poverty line.
This would imply that beyond the 20.5 % of the population officially recognised as poor you will find a band of 'new poor' representing an additional 22.9 % of the populace that would have to be brought within the debate on poverty, it explained.
About 13 % people have grown to be unemployed in the united states due to the pandemic, according to a survey of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
According to the report findings, 19.23 % of participants with cash flow less than Tk 5,000 reported that their money was reduced by 75 %.
Another 23.31 % participants with cash flow between Tk 5000 and Tk 15,000 reported money reduction by 50 % relative to last month's money, news company UNB reported. The BIDS conducted the study from May 5 to 29.
