1.15 cr benefitting from social safety net scheme

The social safety net scheme of the government has been playing a significant role in curbing 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," Social Welfare Secretary Md Khairul Alam Sheikh told BSS today.

He said the government expanded social safety net programmes (SSNPs) to help rural marginal people get a better life by overcoming all economic hardship.

The government has been working to bring all destitute along with transgender, bede, tea workers, and other marginal sections 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 people.

It said the government is giving monthly Tk 600 to each old-aged person as cash allowance while Tk 550 to each widow and oppressed women monthly and 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).

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.