Ensure food for the unemployed: Shujan

The coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh has not only put the lives and livelihoods of people at risk, it has also caused a surge in unemployment, with the informal sector taking the biggest hit. People with small businesses and labourers who relied on daily income barely have any savings to keep themselves afloat during this time, said civil society organisation Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan).

"It is urgent to bring food to the poor people and save their lives. Our inadequate, corrupt, and inefficiently managed social security programmes cannot ensure food security of a large population of suddenly unemployed people," said the press release, signed by Shujan president M Hafizuddin Khan and secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder.

Considering the humanitarian reasons and in order to eliminate the current social unrest, the organisation demanded that lawmakers formulate and implement vigorous programmes immediately to ensure food security for the unemployed poor population.

According to Shujan, the shutdown is a huge dilemma for policymakers. On one hand, it must be enforced to contain the spread of the virus, while on the other, the shutdown is causing unemployment and food insecurity.

"It is a difficult decision that involves various scientific, economic, humanitarian and political considerations," said the press release.

Besides, in order to make informative policy decisions, Shujan also urged the authorities to conduct extensive tests across the country to understand the prevalence of coronavirus infection.