Around 15-Lakh Families Getting PM's Eid Gifts through Nagad

Nagad, the mobile financial service arm of Bangladesh Post Office, has started disbursing Prime Minister's financial assistance as Eid gifts to some 14.97 lakh families of the country whose livelihood were affected amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, reports BSS.

Each family listed by the government will receive assistance worth Tk 2,500 with the cash-out charge under the G2P process and the second-largest mobile financial service provider Nagad will complete the disbursement of such funds before Eid.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday (today)  launched the program from her official residence Ganabhaban, by sending financial assistance to the beneficiary families of Chattogram, Bhola and Joypurhat districts.

In the current phase, the Prime Minister is providing financial assistance to 33.39 lakh beneficiaries with the help of two other MFS providers beside Nagad.

The state carrier will disburse 45 percent of the total funds of this phase while rest of the amount will be disbursed by the two other MFS providers combinedly, said a press release from Nagad.

In the opening day, around 11,000 beneficiaries received the funds through their Nagad account.

Beneficiaries do not have to bear any additional cost in case of cash out of the sum.

The government is paying Tk 15 for the cost of cashout each. However, Nagad users will get the full amount with cash out cost of Tk 37.35. So, while receiving the amount, the beneficiaries will get Tk 2,537.35 at their Nagad wallets which can be used for other purposes also.

Tanvir A. Mishuk, managing director of Nagad, said that during the Covid-19 situation, the rest of the world is engaging their assistance to top taxpayers, but with her foresight, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is standing beside the people who have lost their livelihood.

''Moreover, due to her (the Prime Minister) increased interest in digital services, the beneficiaries are now getting government assistance in their mobile phones at home,'' he said.

Mishuk said, ''I would like to thank the Honorable Prime Minister for trusting Nagad once again with the task of distributing the largest portion of the fund. We promise that the assistance will be delivered to all the beneficiaries maintaining the list given by the government in the most transparent manner. Nagad always operates in accordance with the rules of Bangladesh Bank and will continue to maintain that.''

Last year before Eid, the Prime Minister directed to distribute Tk 2,500 government assistance to each family and at that time, Nagad also got the biggest chunk of allocation for distributing assistance to some 17 lakh beneficiaries.

Currently there are 4.10 crore users in Nagad and daily transaction crossed Tk 400 crore.