Cash assistance for poor a welcome development

We welcome the announcement from the government that it will be providing another round of cash assistance to nearly 35 lakh poor families facing income losses and hardships amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown. Last year, in the aftermath of the first nationwide lockdown or "general holiday", we saw firsthand the hardships endured by the poor—especially those earning daily wages like rickshaw pullers, day labourers and construction workers—when their only source of income was cut off abruptly. This year, according to finance ministry officials, each family will receive a one-off cash support of Tk 2,500 before the Eid-ul-Fitr through mobile financial services.

However, we must also remember that a similar initiative was taken last year during the countrywide lockdown, when the government, with inputs from field-level officials, prepared a list of 50 lakh families in need of financial support. Disappointingly, the distribution of money was stopped midway following allegations of anomalies in the list of beneficiaries. It was alleged that the list contained names of families that were financially solvent, and some of the beneficiaries were listed twice or more times. The Finance Division is now said to have cross-checked all the names and struck 14.32 lakh names off the list to reach the final beneficiary number of almost 35 lakh.

Having 14.32 lakh names that did not belong on the beneficiary list is no small anomaly—it is almost 41 percent of the final list, which calls into question the process of compiling this list in the first place. We hope that this time around, the government has taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that the list was compiled in a transparent manner and that the funds actually reach the most marginalised families. 

However, giving one-off cash assistance is not a long-term solution; ultimately, we all have a responsibility of following health and safety guidelines to reduce transmission and allow the country to be opened up again. While we also commend the other forms of assistance the government has announced—including the Tk 100 crore fund for farmers who lost their Boro crops recently, the Tk 800 crore for Test Relief, General Relief (GR), Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF), and Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) programmes, the Tk 20 crore disaster fund for the disaster management and relief ministry to provide food assistance to the poor, and the selling of essentials at subsidised prices by the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh—these initiatives will only work if they are implemented with the greatest transparency and accountability. We hope the government will take the strictest measures to ensure that these commendable initiatives are free of corruption and reach the people who sorely require this assistance during this period of crisis.