Coronavirus Aid: 60% Dhaka poor did not get relief | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
60% Dhaka poor did not get relief

Covid-19 in Bangladesh

Jebun Nesa Alo
05 May, 2020, 10:15 pm
Last modified: 06 May, 2020, 02:44 pm

Related News

  • S Korea says it will spare no effort to help North Korea amid Covid outbreak
  • Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to 'stabilise' drug supply amid Covid outbreak
  • RMCH shuts down its corona unit
  • Beijing works from home, Shanghai says victory against Covid getting closer
  • N Korea says six dead after admitting Covid outbreak for first time

60% Dhaka poor did not get relief

Tariq Bin Yousuf, chief urban planner of Dhaka North, coordinating relief operations said they can meet only 40 percent of the demand

Jebun Nesa Alo
05 May, 2020, 10:15 pm
Last modified: 06 May, 2020, 02:44 pm
People queued up to receive relief provided by various organisations at the GEC area in Chattogram. File Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
People queued up to receive relief provided by various organisations at the GEC area in Chattogram. File Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS

On Sunday night, middle-aged Fatema Begum was sitting with a flask of tea and a tray of cigarettes on the footpath in Hatirjheel. 

But there were no sales as most people were staying indoors amid the nationwide shutdown. Unlike her customers, though, Fatema could not afford that luxury. 

Hunger had forced her to venture outdoors in the hopes of doing some business so that she could get food for her child.

Fatema said no relief had reached her, or the 80 other residents of Tular Mia slum under Ward 35, since the shutdown began on March 26. Over a month into the shutdown, she has so far received just a package of 3kg rice and 2kg potato from a local person distributing relief on his own.

In another slum under the same ward, 35-year-old house help Parul Begum might consider herself luckier than Fatema. She once received 4kg rice and 2kg potatoes from the police, but no other official relief from the government.

All 16 of the families that live alongside hers at the Peyarabag Railway slum in Moghbazar were left high and dry with only the promise of relief.  

For these people the wait is unlikely to end any time soon as relief allocation for Dhaka North is about 60 percent short of the demand.

The city corporations are handling the relief distributions in Dhaka city and the Dhaka North City Corporation received a relief demand for six lakh people from ward commissioners. However, it could distribute only 1,150 tonnes of rice from April 9 to April 30 – barely enough for 2.40 lakh people.

That means 60 percent of the underprivileged residents of Dhaka North did not get anything.

Shah Alam, a rickshaw puller currently living at the Islambag Government Primary School in Mirpur, said, "I have received relief twice in the last one month – once 30kg rice with potato and lentils from the government, and once 10kg from an NGO."

Seven other families living in that school said the same. 

"We were also provided with cooked meals for two or three days last month," said Rubel, another resident of the camp.

Others, however, have not been so fortunate.

Al Amin, a slum dweller in Mirpur 11, said he had received nothing. 

Part-time housemaid Asma Aktar lives in Kallyanpur with her husband, a house painter, and a two-year-old child.

Since March 25, both of them have had no work and no income. She only received 2kgs of flour from the police one day. 

"Although many families got relief more than once, 12 other neighbours and I did not get any packets," said Asma. Many others in the Kallyanpur slum said they did not get sufficient relief during this crisis. 

Locals said relief was distributed thrice in the slum – once by local MP Aslamul Haque, once by the Dhaka North City Corporation, and then by the police. 

"The MP, the mayor and the police have distributed relief to us. Some NGOs have also helped us. But there is a lack of coordination, which is why some were deprived," said local ward councillor Dewan Abdul Mannan. 

Abu Bakar, resident of a slum in Uttara 5, said, "20 families received aid from a social worker, but we got no help from the government or any NGOs."

Tariq Bin Yousuf, chief urban planner of Dhaka North, is coordinating relief operations in the region. He said they can meet only 40 percent of the demand submitted by the ward councillors.

Md Abdul Hai, chief executive officer of Dhaka North, said, "The distribution is inadequate because even if the whole country is given food, Bangalis have a tendency to say it is not adequate.

"Sometimes one person is getting relief four or five times, but they are still claiming they did not get anything," he added. 

The stories of Fatema and Parul say otherwise. Local commissioners listed the names of some families who were voters, but even then, they did not get any aid till May 3. Parul could not get her name included on the distribution list as she was not a voter.

Meanwhile, the Dhaka South City Corporation received 1,075 metric tonnes of rice from the relief ministry till April 30.

Md Mostafa Kamal Mazumder, joint secretary of Dhaka South City Corporation, said this could serve 2.15 lakh people, but they had received a relief demand for 4.14 lakh people from the ward councillors.

To see how there is a gap between relief allocation and distribution, we can take Ward 35 of Dhaka North as an example. Data shows that the ward councillor received around 11 tonnes of rice till April 30. With this amount, the councillor was able to serve 2,260 people.

When contacted, Councillor Muktar Sardar said his ward was one of the most densely populated ones with about 10 lakh people. 

Every day, he receives demand for relief from around 10,000 people.

What does the relief ministry say?

When contacted, Md Shah Kamal, senior secretary at the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, said not all poor people will get relief because of limited resources.

He said poor people who are already receiving facilities under social safety net programmes such as the Vulnerable Group Development, Vulnerable Group Feeding, food programme for fishermen, OMS (Open Market Sale), etc., will not receive any relief from the current programme.

However, none of these social safety net programmes except OMS are for Dhaka city. Food under VGF, VGD and other programmes are distributed at the union levels outside the city.

But Kamal claimed that the list of the six lakh poor given by ward councillors of Dhaka North include people getting facilities under these social safety net programmes.

To avoid double dipping, the ministry has decided to provide relief to only 50 lakh people across the country through digital relief cards. The new programme will start from May, under which each family will get 20kgs of rice for a month.

Of the 50 lakh eligible persons, two lakh persons from both Dhaka city corporations will come under this relief programme, the senior secretary added.

Bangladesh / Top News

Relief / COVID-19 / Coronavirus

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
    Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
  • RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike
    RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike
  • A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
    Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo collected from Guardian
    32 Covid cases reported in 24 hours
  • 37 test positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours
    37 test positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours
  • No Covid death, 33 cases reported in 24 hours
    No Covid death, 33 cases reported in 24 hours
  • Zero Covid death, 22 cases reported in 24 hours
    Zero Covid death, 22 cases reported in 24 hours
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    Unicef recognises Bangladesh's Covid vaccination as a success story
  • Zero Covid death, 18 cases reported in 24 hours
    Zero Covid death, 18 cases reported in 24 hours

Related News

  • S Korea says it will spare no effort to help North Korea amid Covid outbreak
  • Kim Jong Un orders North Korea military to 'stabilise' drug supply amid Covid outbreak
  • RMCH shuts down its corona unit
  • Beijing works from home, Shanghai says victory against Covid getting closer
  • N Korea says six dead after admitting Covid outbreak for first time

Features

Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

12h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

14h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

14h | Habitat
Pcycle team members at a waste management orientation event. Photo: Courtesy

Pcycle: Turning waste from bins into beautiful crafts

15h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

5h | Videos
After six decades ,the Archies is back

After six decades ,the Archies is back

5h | Videos
Exporters in discomfort, expatriates preferring Hundi

Exporters in discomfort, expatriates preferring Hundi

5h | Videos
Can your coworker be your closest friend?

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

15h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

5
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

6
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab