Govt to stop FWP: Muhith

The government will stop the long-running food-for-work programme (FWP), designed to help the jobless rural poor, as the country has overcome food shortage, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Thursday. The programme, known in Bengali as KABIKHA, employs rural poor for building roads in exchange of specified amount of rice or wheat. “We’re now almost self-sufficient in food. So, there is no justification to continue with the programme,” Muhith told members of parliamentary standing committees at a pre-budget discussion at the NEC building. The finance minister also ruled out inclusion of any non-government educational institution under the monthly payment order (MPO) provision under which the government pays a part of a teacher’s salary, according to a news agency.