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11.7 crore and 23,630 tonnes of rice for the people hard hit by natural disasters and Covid-19.

Experts fear that people may come out of their homes by any means if the government fails to feed those in need.

“The failure to feed people will have two impacts. They will get angry and lose faith in the government,” said Prof Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director of disease control at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

“Secondly, they will violate the lockdown which may turn out to be disastrous for the country,” he told The Daily Star.

Pointing to the worsening state of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, he cautioned that there would be a severe disaster if the government fails to keep people at home.

“We needed to chalk out the execution plan beforehand. But we did not do that. You cannot expect good results from a half-hearted initiative,” Prof Be-Nazir added.

SITUATION IN DISTRICTS

Low-income groups, including petty traders and day labourers, have been badly affected as they became jobless due to the nationwide lockdown, which began on July 1 and has been extended until July 14.

Take the cobblers of Brahmanbaria as an example.

About 700 cobblers, who struggle to earn a living by mending shoes, live in Bhadughar of Brahmanbaria municipality area. After last year’s prolonged countrywide shutdown, they had attempted to rebound but their business was hurt after Hefajat-e-Islam’s mayhem in late March this year, which led the authorities to shut down the railway station in the district.

The ongoing lockdown is now adding salt to their wounds.

“I used to make about Tk 500 to Tk 700 per day mending and polishing shoes of people at the train station. Now I’m completely jobless,” he said, adding that they are yet to get any aid from the government.

“I can’t describe how I feel when I look at my hungry children and parents’ faces,” he said in a choked voice.

A well-known dhak player, Raj Kumar Wrishi of Mymensingh city’s Wrishipara area said he is almost starving along with his family of seven.

He claimed that he was not enlisted for any relief during this lockdown.

The state of Ranjit Biswas, a 58-year-old saloon worker in Mymensingh’s Naumahal area, was similar.

Mymensingh Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Enamul Haque on Saturday said they received the government’s relief and were preparing a list of beneficiaries.

Violating the stay-at-home order, Md Polash, a roadside teastall owner at Kalitola area under Dinajpur municipality, had opened his shop, but a magistrate closed it down eventually.

“I have not earned a single taka for over a week. How do I feed my family? We don’t have savings to survive, and neither do we have any government support. It is not possible to bear family expenses without the support now,” Polash said.

In Dinajpur, the local administration imposed a lockdown on June 15.

Liakat Ali, 65, who runs a small betel leaf shop in Kalitola area, said his family is facing hardships after as his shop has been closed for more than two weeks.

“I have lost the only means of earning after the lockdown. I took a loan to feed my family members.”

He said he received support from many people last year but this year he has not seen any such activities.

Abdur Razzak, a day labourer of Pirojpur, said he has been jobless for around a month after he fractured his leg in an accident.

“But I have not gotten any help yet,” he said.

Golam Sarwar Babul, chairman of Parerhat union parishad in Pirojpur’s Indurkani upazila, said the support they had gotten from the government was at best 20 percent of the demand.

“So, it becomes difficult for us to help all who are in need,” he said.

Enamul Haque, secretary of Gabtoli union of Bogura, said they gave Tk 500 each to 250 people on Thursday.

“A family could hardly run daily expenses for two days with Tk 500. They will have to come out of home on the third day,” he said.

Dalim Shikdar, member of Khondakata union of Bagerhat, said the incidents of theft has increased recently in their area.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sharif Ahmed Linkon of Rajshahi’s Bagmara said they are yet to get allocation from the Tk 23.6 crore disbursed by DDM.

Asked why many people did not get the aid yet, State Minister of the disaster management ministry Enamur Rahman said, “Everyone [those needing the aid] will get it. We’ve increased the amount of aid.”

If the lockdown is extended, the government will allocate more, he added.

[Our Correspondents from Brahmanbaria, Dinajpur, Mymensingh, Pirojpur and Gazipur contributed to the report]