Tk 1000cr scheme to create job for ultra poor
A programme involving Tk 1,000 crore is set for generating employment opportunities for thousands of ultra poor all over the country.
Ministry for Food and Disaster Management will be implementing the programme. The extremely poor will be provided with the means of living during October to December when job scarcity in rural areas leads many to starvation.
The programme targets around eight lakh of the people with a daily wage of Tk 120. The number of beneficiaries would come down to 6.5 lakh if the wage increases to Tk 150.
The programme, similar to the food for work project, will involve the people in different rural development projects.
The ministry has planned disbursing the money to the beneficiaries' bank accounts directly so middlemen cannot reap any benefit out of it as they usually do.
The ministry also held a meeting with representatives of Bangladesh Bank and state-owned commercial and specialised banks to implement its plan.
Official sources said the central bank received a request from the ministry to allow the extreme poor to open bank accounts for Tk 10, like the farmers' account.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman told yesterday that the central bank would offer Tk 10 bank accounts to the poor, as it would ensure transparency of the projects's employment while assure hassle-free payment.
"These accounts would stop payments to ghost workers who used to cash in on such programmes without any participation," the governor said.
He said the facility would also increase the depth of the central bank's strategy for financial inclusion.
He added that the accounts would remain active for all other banking purposes like a savings account.
Dr Atiur said existing bank branches in rural areas would manage the accounts without facing any problem, as each branch would be required to handle 150 of such accounts.
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