The government has allocated 1,657 tonnes of rice to help fishers stay off the water during the peak hilsa spawning season. In all, 646,290 fishing families in 168 upazilas of 38 districts will receive 25kg each as humanitarian aid, under an order issued on 28 September by the Fisheries-2 branch of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
Under the order, fishers will not catch hilsa for 22 days during the main spawning season this fiscal year, and the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) rice is meant to help their households through that time.
Among the largest allocations, Shariatpur receives 653.225 tonnes for 26,129 families, Manikganj 231.55 tonnes for 9,262 families and Rajbari 139.8 tonnes for 5,592 families. Rajshahi division gets 485.275 tonnes for 19,411 families, including 87.5 tonnes in Pabna, 47.25 tonnes in Bogura and 18.75 tonnes in Natore. In Rangpur division, Kurigram and Gaibandha get 403.15 tonnes for 16,126 families.
Deputy commissioners must pass sub-allocations to upazila executive officers within one working day, and the UNOs must clear them to union parishad chairmen within two. Only registered or card-holding fishers may receive the rice, and the upazila fisheries officer or a representative and a tag officer must be present at distribution.
Distribution must be finished before the ban begins, by 8 October, and a statement of the rice actually distributed must reach the ministry through the Department of Fisheries within 10 working days.
This report is based on a BSS report published in Dainik Bangla.
Photo: Nurunnaby Chowdhury (Hasive) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Dainik Bangla
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