Assistance in winter
Saturday, 12 December 2009
THE winter can be a time of distresses for the poor in Bangladesh.
The poor, who cannot afford warm clothes, suffer in a colder winter. Government assistance to the poor for coping with winter has been meager so far. It is nothing better than tokenism.
The government must have a good programme to distribute warm clothes to the poor. The poor should have access to resources to improve their shelter to save themselves from the cold. It is not difficult to provide shelter and warm clothes to the poor who have to sleep on the pavements.
Winter-time support should be provided to the poor. A plan should be taken to help the poor cope with winter.
There should be private initiative as well for large-scale charity to distribute warm clothes and cash handouts to the poor. But, assistance to the poor could best be channelised, perhaps by organised institutional charities.
For easing the distress of the poor in winter, the first task should be to ascertain the number of the needy. And it is the responsibility of the government to do it. Secondly, the nature of assistance needed should be identified.
The government should provide the assistance and request private charities to supplement. But all of it should done without corruption. No one should be allowed to make fortune by handling assistance for the poor.
Shafique Ahmed
New Eskaton, Dhaka.
The poor, who cannot afford warm clothes, suffer in a colder winter. Government assistance to the poor for coping with winter has been meager so far. It is nothing better than tokenism.
The government must have a good programme to distribute warm clothes to the poor. The poor should have access to resources to improve their shelter to save themselves from the cold. It is not difficult to provide shelter and warm clothes to the poor who have to sleep on the pavements.
Winter-time support should be provided to the poor. A plan should be taken to help the poor cope with winter.
There should be private initiative as well for large-scale charity to distribute warm clothes and cash handouts to the poor. But, assistance to the poor could best be channelised, perhaps by organised institutional charities.
For easing the distress of the poor in winter, the first task should be to ascertain the number of the needy. And it is the responsibility of the government to do it. Secondly, the nature of assistance needed should be identified.
The government should provide the assistance and request private charities to supplement. But all of it should done without corruption. No one should be allowed to make fortune by handling assistance for the poor.
Shafique Ahmed
New Eskaton, Dhaka.