Coronavirus outbreak: 55 eminent citizens seek immediate steps to protect people's lives

Fifty-five eminent citizens and organisations today issued a joint statement demanding the government to take immediate steps, including providing food assistance and other necessary things to one crore at-risk families for at least three months, to protect citizens amid the coronavirus outbreak.  

They demanded that the government ensure treatment facilities of the one crore families free of cost.

The government will have to extend its procurement management to ensure fair price of food grains, vegetables and fruits produced by farmers, read the statement.

It should ensure the salary and wages of all institutions, said the statement.

They also asked the government to make loans easily available for small entrepreneurs and farmers.

The government should also provide relief and government assistance to marginal people, especially the Rohingyas and indigenous people living in the hilly and flat lands of Bangladesh.

Besides, the government should provide free treatment in measles-hit areas and give emergency humanitarian assistance, the statement said.

The government needs to declare a package worth Tk 70,000 crore -Tk 90,000 crore for providing these assistances and should form a high-power committee to implement those, said the statement.

Prof Anu Muhammad, Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Khushi Kabir were among the signatories.