RAJSHAHI, May 11, 2020 (BSS)- A total of 14,966.85 tonnes of rice have, so far, been distributed among 13,91,864 daily wage earning and other hand-to-mouth families aimed at mitigating their hardship related to livelihood being caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the division.
“Each of the needy families was given ten kilograms of rice equally as part of the government’s instant humanitarian support to cope with the present troubled situation in all eight districts in the division till 8 am today,” said Humayun Kabir Khandaker, Commissioner of Rajshahi division.
Over Taka 8.57 crore in cash were also distributed among 7, 46,481 families in the division, he said, adding that 2,036.30 more tonnes of rice and Taka 1.42 crore in cash are also in stock at present for distribution.
Meanwhile, 13,269.24 tonnes of rice has been distributed among the families in need at Taka 10 per kilogram.
Besides, 7.73 lakh poor and extreme poor households were given 48,000 tonnes of rice under the government’s “Food Friendly Programme” in the last two months, Humayun Kabir said.
Another 4,500 tonnes of rice are also being distributed among the families in need under the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) Programme, he said, adding that each of 1.5 lakh beneficiary families is getting 30 kilograms of rice every month free of cost.
Apart from this, various institutions, organizations and volunteers have intensified their foodstuffs distribution among the distressed families in the region.
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has, so far, provided food support to more than 1.07 lakh jobless and other less-income families.
With initiative and support of the city’s 45,000 affluent families, the city corporation distributed 223 tonnes of rice, 41 tonnes of pulse and 52 tonnes of potato among the families in need, said city Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.
The city corporation also dispensed 513 tonnes of rice among 62,500 hand-to-mouth families from the government allocation in all 30 wards of the city equally as part of the government’s instant humanitarian support to cope with the present situation caused by Covid-19 pandemic, he added.
As part of the government’s relentless efforts of ensuring food support to all the helpless families, RCC has been providing relief support to 11,100 more jobless and other less-income households since Friday last.
On the other hand, 57,596 personal protective equipments (PPE) were distributed among the frontline healthcare workforces to handle the COVID-19 pandemic through protecting them from the virus infection in the division. There are 21,900 more PPEs 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 already prepared for treatment of the possible COVID-19 infected patients.
There are arrangements of 220 beds in isolation units here and 19 ambulances for emergency transporting and treatment of the infected patients.