An official initiative to provide smart family cards to 10 million low-income families under the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is facing a setback due to non-completion of their database, official sources said.
As a result, the TCB has requested the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) to take necessary steps so that district administrations and city corporations complete the database-making process within October 30, 2025.
The ambitious initiative aims to replace the existing TCB digital family cards with smart family cards, designed to streamline the distribution of key essential commodities at subsidised prices among the targeted families.
Initially, around 5.7 million smart cards were dispatched across the country, with an activation deadline set for March 17, 2025. However, only about 4.1 million cards were activated during the period.
Despite repeated instructions from the MoC to all district administrators and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of City Corporations to complete the process of selecting the new beneficiaries within the stipulated time.
To date, a database on only about 6.4 million out of 10 million targeted smart cardholders have been made. The process was hampered in absence of required data on time.
To accelerate the process, the commerce adviser instructed all deputy commissioners (DCs), CEOs of City Corporations, and Divisional Commissioners through a Zoom meeting on May 7 last to ensure uploading data of all beneficiaries by June 30, 2025.
Besides, the adviser also sent DO letters to all concerned officials, DCs and CEOs, asking them to complete the selection and card activation process as soon as possible.
A commerce ministry official said: "…we have already instructed the concerned administrations to accelerate the data uploading process by this month (October)."
He also expresses the hope that the necessary process, including the activation of the beneficiaries' data would be completed by this month.
TCB now sells edible oil, lentil, sugar, and rice at subsidised rates to 10 million cardholder families, with around 30-32 per cent of the population benefitting from the programme throughout the year.
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