1.15 cr people get benefit from safety net scheme

Staff Correspondent: Safety net scheme of the government has been playing a significant role to curb poverty as 1.15 crore marginal people from 262 upazilas are getting the benefits.
“A large number of rural marginal people across the country are getting benefits from the safety net scheme of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” Md Khairul Alam Sheikh, Social Welfare Secretary told media yesterday.
He said the government expanded social safety net programmes (SSNPs) to help rural
marginal people get a better life overcoming all economic hardship.
The government has been working to bring all destitute along with transgender, bede, tea workers and other marginal section of people under the social protection programme, the secretary added.
Recently, the Social Welfare Minister said that the government is working sincerely to eradicate poverty to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and build the country as “Sonar Bangla” as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
According to the information of the Social Welfare Ministry, currently, the total number of beneficiaries of the four social safety net programmes is 1.15 crore, of which 58.01 lakh are old-aged people, 25.75 lakh widows and oppressed women and 29 lakh are physically challenged peopl.
It said the government is giving monthly Tk 600 to each old aged people as cash allowance while Tk 550 to each widow and oppressed women and monthly Tk 850 to each physically challenged person.
The government has also allocated Tk 112.24 crore as education stipend for 1.0 lakh physically challenged students this fiscal year (2023-2024).
The allowances were given directly through MFS (Mobile Financial Services), following the government-to-person (G-to-P) system, among the elderly, widowed and oppressed women, and financially insolvent physically challenged persons. Education stipends of the physically challenged students are also being distributed under the SSN programmes,” the secretary said.

“Bangabandhu’s worthy daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has introduced the allowance for destitute, old aged people, physically challenged, helpless, widow, oppressed women and stipend for various underprivileged students,” he said.

Besides, the government has been providing assistance to helpless, underprivileged children and youth with disabilities for their education. The education stipend program for disabled students has been introduced from the financial year 2007-08.
Initially, 12,209 disabled students were brought under this program in 2007-2008 through the Department of Social Services. The number of beneficiaries was 1.0 lakh people in the financial year 2023-24.

Each primary level physically challenged pupil is getting Tk 750, each secondary level pupil Tk 800, higher secondary level pupil Tk 900 and higher level Tk 1,300 per month. A total of 100,000 pupils are getting the stipend per month.

The number of transgender (hizra) people, who are getting an allowance of Tk 600 per month, rose to 2,600 while 5,066 Bede people get Tk 600 per month.

Each tea worker is getting an allowance of Tk 5,000 annually while the number of tea workers rose to 60,000.

Head of Media and Communications of Nagad — an innovative and promising digital financial service of Bangladesh Post Office — Zahidul Islam Sajal said a total of 75 percent allowance was disbursed through Nagad.

“The Nagad has been ensuring direct disbursement of all allowances to the beneficiaries, which was introduced by the government,” he added.

The government has also been spending Tk 3,500 per month on each person at Sheikh Russel Shishu Training and Rehabilitation Centre, while each orphan at private sector orphanage is getting Tk 2,000 per month as capitation grant.

The government is also giving Tk 50,000 annually to a destitute patient for his/her treatment of cancer, liver, kidney, liver cirrhosis, paralyzed by stroke and by born heart disease and thalassemia.

Meanwhile financial support for cancer, kidney, liver cirrhosis, paralyzed, stroke, heart disease and thalassemia patients were given to ensure their treatment across the country.