Over 2 lakh people in Khulna under safety-net scheme

The present government’s safety net programme under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s special initiative has brought smiles to the face of many disadvantaged and distressed people in the Khulna district.

In the last year, the government distributed Tk 100.21 crore among nearly 2 lakh disadvantaged and underprivileged people including the elderly, widows, divorced women and disabled people.

“This money is a blessing for me. Now, I can buy medicine with my own money. I don’t anymore need to depend on others of my family for that,” said Md Torikul Islam, a disabled person residing at Mokampur village under Terkhada thana in the district.

Torikul is one of nearly 35,000 disabled people in the district who have been receiving allowances from the government under the safety net programme where nearly 11 lakh elderly people and 50,000 widows or divorced women got such allowances here during the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Besides, allowances have also been provided to 1,951 patients with cancer, kidney and liver cirrhosis, paralysed stroke, congenital heart disease and thalassemia in the district.

In this fiscal, the government provided Tk 20,000 allowance per month to the 2015 valiant freedom fighters of the district.

“No previous government gave us such a handsome amount per month as allowance. We are only getting this large monthly amount as the pro-liberation Awami League government under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now in the state power,” said Sardar Mahbubar Rahman, former commander of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad district unit.

Under its social safety net endeavour, the government also started a rehabilitation programme for the beggars in the district from the 2018-19 fiscal year while Tk 2.5 lakh was distributed among 127 vagabonds for creating alternative employment for them in 2020-21 fiscal.

Under the education support programme for the disadvantaged population, the government provided stipends to 651 persons with disabilities, 39 Bede and 569 underprivileged children.

Moreover, special allowances have been provided to 720 disadvantaged people and 13 transgender people while the government imparted different income-generating trainings to 150 underprivileged people and 23 transgender community members.

Under the Child Sensitive Social Protection in Bangladesh project, 28 child marriages have been stopped in the financial year 2021-22 under the child protection programme.

The district Social Services department is conducting such kind of social safety net activities under its Rural Social Service (RSS) that turned into an important tool for poverty alleviation.