DHAKA, April 26, 2020 (BSS) – Information Minister and Awami League joint general secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud today said the main aim of the government is that nobody would remain hungry in the country amid coronavirus pandemic.
He made the remark while addressing media through online from his Secretariat office in the capital, a ministry press release said here.
Information secretary Kamrun Nahar and principal information officer Surath Kumar Sarkar were, among others, present.
Hasan said the government is trying its best to minimise the plight of daily wage earners and the destitute people in the special circumstances. The affluent people alongside the government are also coming forward to this end, he added.
“On behalf of the Awami League, its leaders have extended their support to the poor people across the country. We will tackle this (COVID-19) disaster together. Our aim is that nobody would remain hungry and the government is working to this end,” he said.
The AL joint general secretary said the government announced general holidays from March 26 to April 25 last with a view to containing the spread of coronavirus and later it extended the holiday till May 5 next.
He said different agencies under his ministry – Press Information Department, Mass Communication Department, Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television – remain operational during the holiday so that people can avail emergency services.
“That’s why our officers are doing their respective offices in a limited scale. Recently, the government decided to open the service-oriented agencies and different ministries,” the information minister said.
Noting that more than one third of the country’s people have already been brought under different assistance programmes of the government, he said the government is providing support for about 10.4 lakh families through the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programme.
Around 50 lakh families are getting rice at Taka 10 per kg under the food-friendly progarmme, while the government is providing support for about 12.5 lakh families under the Open Market Sales (OMS) programme, Hasan said.
He said three lakh fishermen families will get support under the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme next month. In addition to this, he said, district administrations are distributing vegetables and milk among the poor people.
Amid the coronavirus crisis, the information minister said, the disaster and relief ministry has so far allocated 1.15 lakh metric tons of rice and Taka 49 crore. A special allocation of Taka 11.1 crore has also been given for baby food, he added.
Hasan said about one crore people are also getting various assistances from the government through different programmes, including widow and old-age allowances and allowance for divorcees.