Staff Correspondent: Nagad, the mobile financial service of the Bangladesh Post Office, will disburse the daily wages to some 1.5 lakh workers under the Employment Generation Programme for the Poorest (EGPP) scheme of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

A tripartite agreement was signed recently among the Directorate of Disaster Management, the Directorate of Bangladesh Post and Nagad Limited in this regard.

Md. Atiqul Haque, director general of Disaster Management Directorate, and Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief business officer of Nagad, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Tanvir Chowdhury, deputy general manager of Nagad along with other higher officials from both the organizations were present during the signing ceremony, said a press release.

Under the initiative, the daily wages of almost 1.46 lakh workforces from 114 upazilas of 18 districts and 3 divisions of the country will be deposited into their Nagad wallets. Each worker will receive a remuneration of Taka 400 per day.

In the fiscal year 2022-2023, these unemployed hands will receive 80 days of salary in two installments into their Nagad accounts. Cash-out fees will be covered with this disbursed amount, allowing the beneficiaries to conveniently withdraw this money from the nearest Nagad ‘Uddokta’ point without any cost.

Employment Generation Programme for the Poorest (EGPP) is administered by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief’s Directorate of Disaster Management. The program is one of the government’s initiatives to guarantee social security, through which the impoverished and the functional workforces are provided with financial stability.

The programme additionally contributes to rural infrastructure development, including construction, maintenance, renovations, roads, drainage system, maintaining market cleanliness, etc.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Sheikh Aminur Rahman, chief business officer of Nagad Limited said, “Nagad has disbursed several government social safety allowances since its inception… We believe the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief has entrusted us because Nagad has excelled at the disbursement of all types of allowances.”

Presently, Nagad disburses 100 percent of the primary education stipend and 75 percent of the social safety net program. Among which, old age allowance, widow allowance, bede community development allowance, transgender community development allowance, tea garden workers’ living standard allowance, backward community development allowance, disabled allowance, Fisheries and Livestock Ministry’s allowance, Women and Children Affairs Ministry’s allowance, technical education department allowance, technical education directorate’s allowance, and stipend under the Prime Minister’s Educational Assistance Trust are all being disbursed through Nagad.

In addition, the Social Development Foundation under the Ministry of Finance has effectively distributed government incentives to some 2,500,000 members affected by Covid-19 through Nagad.

The operator has recently disbursed financial support of the Prime Minister’s financial aid, announced during the Covid-19 pandemic to nearly some 17 lakh and 14 lakh families. Besides, on the occasion of Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib’s 90th and 91st birth anniversaries, Nagad distributed allowances to some 1,300 and 2,000 unprivileged women respectively.