Grameenphone, Brac team up to help one lakh poor families
As much as 75 percent of the urban people now live under the poverty line, of them 40 percent joined freshly because of the Covid-19 crisis
Private mobile network operator Grameenphone and the world's largest non-government organisation Brac have jointly initiated a move to help one lakh families struggling to meet their daily needs during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.
In an online press conference yesterday, they launched the "Dakchhe Amar Desh" (my country is calling me) campaign where they called upon other businesses and individuals to join hands with them to make the initiative successful.
Grameenphone will provide Tk1,500 to each family as cash incentive to help them meet their basic need of food and other commodities during the emergency.
Brac has already successfully run two phases of the campaign in which two lakh families were provided with Tk1,500 each.
Yasir Azman, Grameenphone's chief executive officer, said his company is helping the government fight the pandemic in many ways, and the latest initiative is another step where the firm is collaborating with a private initiative.
"Brac had already started the initiative when we were thinking of something like this. As Brac has the resources to identify the marginalised or disadvantaged people, we decided to team up with them," he said.
Yasir said the Covid-19 outbreak is yet to reach its peak in the country and that the situation is likely to linger. "So, such an initiative is very important now, and we need to make sure we continue this."
Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac, said big companies like Grameenphone are coming forward to help the disadvantaged people during such a crisis, which is a very positive sign.
"We had already started the initiative but were looking for funds to carry it to the next level. Grameenphone's stepping up is a big relief. We are using our slum-based database and also pulling data from our microfinance programme to determine the needy people," he said.
He also said already 75 percent of the urban people have come down the poverty line where 40 percent joined freshly because of the Covid-19 crisis.
