The government will distribute some 13,872 tonnes of rice among 5,54,887 fishermen families across the country during the hilsha fishing ban period for 22 days from October 7.
“A total of 5,54,887 fishermen families throughout the country will get 13,872 tonnes of rice under the vulnerable group feeding (VGF) programme during this main hilsha breeding season”, said Additional Director General of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) M Atiar Rahman.
The fishermen families of 155 upazilas in 37 districts, who will refrain from catching fish, will get the VGF facilities during this time.
Under the allotment, each fisherman's family will get 25 kgs of rice during the period as the grant of the allocation has already been sent to the office of the respective deputy commissioners.
According to the division-wise VGF rice disbursement, the government has allocated over 1,204 tonnes of rice for the Dhaka division, 200 tonnes for the Mymensingh division, over 3,703 tonnes for the Chattogram division, 402 tonnes for the Khulna division, 383.75 tonnes for Rajshahi division, 325 tonnes for Rangpur division and 9,183.60 tonnes for Barishal division.
To make the mother hilsha conservation successful, the government has allocated Tk 10 crore for mother hilsha conservation, prevention of jatka killing and conducting combing operations for destroying illegal fishing nets including Behundi.
To materialize the programme, the government has already distributed Tk 1.25 crore for different divisions, districts and upazila offices under the department of fisheries in the 2022-23 fiscal year.
To protect the hilsha during the main breeding season, the government has also earmarked over Tk 1.71 crore for conducting supervision and monitoring across the Sea and different rivers by different organizations including the department of fisheries, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air force, Bangladesh Coast Guard, River Police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
