CG hailed for allocating maternity allowance
Staff Correspondent
Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) yesterday hailed the Caretaker Government (CG) for including maternity allowance in the budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year (FY).Secretary General of DORP AHM Nouman in a statement yesterday said allocating Tk 17 crore for a pilot project in the "Maternity Allowance for the Poor Lactating Mothers" will play an important role to protect the rights of poor mothers. It would be initiated as a step to poverty alleviation and to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It would increase women's dignity, acknowledge reproduction, reduce maternal and infant mortality rate and would provide child's birth right and would also resist early marriage, he said adding that the maternity allowance will lead to ensuring safe motherhood. DORP had initiated 'maternity allowance' in 2005 as a pilot project for safe motherhood and provided Tk 200 to 40 poor mothers in six divisions of the country. Meanwhile, Jatiya Kar Ainjibi Samity lauded the proposed budget.
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