Mahbubur Rahman Khan

Nazim Uddin did not have any other choice.

A small vendor who earns his living by selling children’s garments in front of Gazipur’s Sreepur Upazila Parishad, he came out of home yesterday amid the lockdown because he ran out of stock of daily essentials.

But this time, he was selling facemasks.

“Police will fine me if I sell clothes. That’s why I’m selling masks. If I could get some money, I’ll be able to buy food for a day,” Nazim said.

He said he would not have to leave his home if the government provided him with assistance, be it food or money.

Like Nazim, a large number of poor and marginalised people in various parts of the country, who became jobless due to the ongoing lockdown, have been in dire straits without any government support.

Three days before the lockdown started on July 1, the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) disbursed Tk 23.6 crore for the poor, insolvent and jobless people of the 64 districts through the district administrations. The money was supposed to be distributed among the people by July 3.

The Daily Star correspondents spoke to people and local representatives of union parishads of 17 districts in eight divisions and found many had not gotten the aid.

In some districts, the local administration is yet to begin the distribution as they are still preparing the list of people in need.

The disaster ministry on Sunday allocated another Tk 11.7 crore and 23,630 tonnes of rice for the people hard hit by natural disasters and Covid-19.