Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the disbursement of Tk 12.50 billion cash assistance among 5.0 million poor families hit hard amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis on Thursday.
The Prime Minister will inaugurate the disbursement through a video conference from her official Ganabhaban residence on Thursday.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman said each of the 5.0 million families will get Tk 2,500 through mobile financial services (MFSs) – bKash, Rocket, Nagad and SureCash, reports BSS.
Enamur said the total fund will be disbursed between May 14 and 18, and 1.0 million people will get the cash support through the MFSs every day.
About the selection of families, the state minister said their list was prepared with the poorest 5.0 million families of the 12.5 million vulnerable families, who are now getting the government’s relief assistance.
Earlier on Monday, Finance Division has released Taka 12.57 billion for the cash assistance to the 5.0 million families.
According to Finance Division officials, Taka 6.27 billion was disbursed for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from the Budget-1 wing while Taka 6.30 billion also for the PMO from Budget-3 wing. The PMO is supervising the operations of this initiative.
Nagad, a joint venture of the postal division and a private firm, will distribute the highest amount of Tk 4.25 billion, while market leader bKash will disburse Tk 3.75 billion, Rocket Tk 2.50 billion and SureCash Tk 2.00 billion, sources at the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry said.
The prime minister will later kick off the distribution of stipend and tuition fee among the students of bachelor degree and its equivalent level of 2019 academic year through mobile/online banking, a source at the PMO said.
