Widen The Food Security Program

Hungry people rally behind the queue, Leaving the government with ideas few How to fix the food security To help the ones most needy It is likely the crisis will brew.

As commodity prices soar,a record in decades,sufferings and ordeals of ordinary people get worsened.More and more people struggle to queue behind govt ration.So far it is not clear how many managed to get a free ration card. But it appears govt has to widen its ongoing social security programs in order to accommodate more and more people in distress.

Government food security programs include Open Market Sale(OMS),Money for Work,Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGD),Govt Relief,and Employment Generation Program for Ultra Poor. March of hungry people left no choice but to widen the ongoing programs. In 2017-18,Tk 9470 crores were spent on various food security programs. A year later,in 2018-19,Tk 10457 crores were spent on such programs. In 2018-19, 12.1 million people were subject to OMS programs,costing govt TK 832 crores. Government allotted TK 1085.07 crores for VGD programs,1730.81 crores for VGF and TK 1650 crores for employment for ultra poor in 2018-19(Source: BER 2019).This year govt planned to feed 10 million poor households. Family card has been distributed by govt in this regard.A budget of Tk 5280 crores are also allotted. Card holder can avail maximum of 2 litres of soybean oil,2 Kgs of lentil,1 kg of sugar and 2 kgs of onion(Source: The Business Standard,October 22,2022).

When we were kids ,we used to see scenes like people waiting in queue for hours for flour,sugar and oil. Things have improved. But family card concept is invoking that old memories of bygone era. This is an indication how worst the hunger situation has become. In Global Hunger Index,Bangladesh’s position slipped to 84 from 76 out of 121 countries. Clearly, our vulnerability in ensuring food still prevails. Any volatility in oil and grain markets hits us hard.

This is government initiative. But any private initiative/effort is hard to find. In our neighboring cities like Kolkata,Jaipur,Lahore,Delhi,Karachi we see lots of private langars/ charities to feed the vulnerable or the hungry. Such community-led effort is needed here. We simply cannot let millions of people starve indefinitely. Platforms of businessmen and other professional bodies should step in to chalk out how to coordinate such charities across the country/ at least in key poverty pockets in some urban areas. This solidarity will only improve their public image.

Our cities by any standard do not qualify for a proper city. Even the Mughals installed resting places,water tanks,shower rooms for travellers who would make a brief stopover. Some of them were free. Even the concept of langars,which is pretty common in the subcontinent, is conspicuously absent here. To qualify for a proper city, Bangladeshi cities should build such urban facilities(We do not have proper public toilet and cheap taxi service)so that most of the city dwellers/ travellers can avail them.

As crisis knocks on our doors,we have to prove that we are better than the Mughals by starting some free langars across the city. Our development story will mock us if a single life is lost in the looming crisis.