In Chandpur district, 45,615 fishermen who refrain from catching mother hilsa during the ban have each been given 25 kg of rice as humanitarian food assistance (VGF).

The information came from conversations with district and upazila fisheries officials on the morning of Wednesday, 8 October.

To deliver the food aid quickly, the deputy commissioner wrote on 29 September to the Upazila Nirbahi Officers of the Meghna coastal upazilas of Matlab Uttar, Matlab Dakshin, Sadar and Haimchar. The letter said registered fishermen should receive the aid by 3 October.

The district fisheries department said that, based on the updated count of fishermen this year, 1,140.375 tonnes of rice were allocated for 45,615 fishermen in 43 municipalities and unions. Tk 2,85,093 was allocated to carry the rice from warehouses to union parishads, with transport costs set at Tk 250 a tonne.

Haimchar senior upazila fisheries officer A B M Ashraful Haque said the rice had been distributed in an orderly way to 12,303 families in the upazila, and no fisherman had complained so far.

Food aid was distributed to fishermen in Chandra union on Wednesday morning. Saiful Islam, a fisherman in the union, said: "This time we got the right weight of rice. Two fishermen were given a 50 kg sack, 25 kg each, so it did not have to be weighed separately."

Babul Miji, a fisherman from the same area, said: "The rice has helped us, because we have to stay out of work for 22 days. But the assistance needs to be increased."

Sadar assistant upazila fisheries officer Md Mizanur Rahman said distribution in Sadar was somewhat delayed because of the Puja holidays, but they had made sure all registered fishermen received rice.

Chandpur district fisheries officer Sribas Chandra Chanda said the rice was distributed under the supervision of each upazila fisheries officer, and they had tried to finish the work as quickly as possible.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.