RAJSHAHI, May 6, 2020 (BSS) – Over 12.42 lakh daily wage earning and hand-to-mouth families have, so far, been given food assistance in order to handle the present livelihood related crisis caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Rajshahi division.
Humayun Kabir Khandaker, Commissioner of Rajshahi division, said 13,191 metric tonnes of rice have been distributed among the affected families till 8 am today as a part of the government’s instant humanitarian support to tackle the present crisis.
He added each of the beneficiary families got ten kilograms of rice in all eight districts in the division.
More than Taka 7.13 crore in cash was also distributed among 6,87,156 families in the division for baby feed purposes and necessary other expenses. Apart from, 2,338.30 tonnes of rice and over Taka 1.49 crore in cash are in stock at present for distribution.
Around 7,73,026 poor and extreme poor households were given 48,000 tonnes of rice under the government’s “Food Friendly Programme” in the last two months.
Besides, 4,500 tonnes of rice is being distributed among the families in need under the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) Programme. Each of 1.5 lakh beneficiary families is getting 30 kilograms of rice every month free of cost.
Humayun Kabir said various other local government bodies and non-government entities have intensified their activities of dispensing foodstuffs among the marginalized families everywhere in the division continuously to cope with the present troubled situation.
As part of the government’s relentless efforts of ensuring food support to all the helpless households, Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has disbursed 60,000 kilograms of rice among 9,172 members of 33 professional bodies in Rajshahi city to deal with the present adverse situation.
RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton said another 21,000 jobless and other low-income families were brought under the emergency food support in the city areas to minimize their hardship as a gift of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently.
The city corporation also dispensed another 123 tonnes of rice among 12,300 hand-to-mouth families in the city from the government allocation.
Apart from this, RCC has provided foodstuffs to around 45,000 daily families in need in two phases to cope with the present troubled situation.
On the other hand, 48,691 personal protective equipment (PPE) were distributed among the frontline healthcare workforces to handle the COVID-19 pandemic through protecting them from the virus infection in the division. Another 31,579 more PPEs remain in stock for distribution.
Besides, more than four lakh emergency medicines were distributed with 21,400 in stock for distribution.
A total of 808 doctors and 1,512 nurses are working in 172 public and private hospitals in the division. Around 1,888 beds, out of total 4,149, were prepared for treatment of the COVID-19 infected patients.
There are arrangements of 220 beds in isolation units here and 19 ambulances for the purpose of emergency transporting and treatment of the infected patients.
Meanwhile, the civil administration, armed forces and law-enforcement agencies remained active to cope with the adverse situation through enforcing the restrictive measures.