The government's ongoing sales drive of essential items to 10 million low-income families has encountered a setback due to a lack of smart cards, according to an official document.
To address the issue, the government has instructed divisional commissioners (DCs) to update information on all 10 million cardholder families by February 10.
The commerce ministry issued this instruction on February 01.
Sources familiar with the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB)'s initiative to introduce smart cards for these families have cited the absence of necessary databases as the reason for the delay.
While the commerce ministry is eager to expedite the smart card implementation, progress in replacing handwritten cards with digital versions has been slow.
Sources at the TCB claimed that the slow lane implementation is due to district administrations across the country failing to provide required databases.
They said the commerce ministry has requested these databases from deputy commissioners seven times in 2022 and 2023, but many districts have yet to comply.
"We have requested DCs to take necessary steps to provide their respective databases of cardholder families as soon as possible," said a high-ranking official at the commerce ministry.
The government initiated the process of replacing manual cards with smart ones to ensure the smooth distribution of essentials to low-income families, he noted, adding that the initial groundwork was already completed.
A pilot project converting TCB family cards into smart cards has been successfully completed in Dhaka North City Corporation, Narayanganj and Barisal.
The plan is to distribute smart cards to all cardholder families in phases.
Recently, State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu hoped that the distribution would be completed by June.
As per the prime minister's directive, he said key essential items are sold at subsidised prices to cardholder families throughout the year. The government is also considering expanding the programme to include more beneficiary families.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the TCB has been selling essential items like soybean oil, sugar, rice, lentils and onions at subsidised prices every month.
From July 2023, cardholder families can purchase 5kg of rice at a subsidised rate of Tk 30 per kg in addition to other commodities.
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