The government has so far provided 2.4 million poor people with a cash assistance of Tk 2,500 each to help them survive the hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the ministry of finance.

The government has a target to provide such assistance to 5.0 million poor families. Around 20 million people will benefit from the scheme, considering that each of the families has four members on average.

The latest figure included the disbursement made on Monday when 27,358 people received the support.

On July 19, the ministry provided the financial supports to 482,662 people who have been facing the hardship due to the pandemic.

The ministry is providing the cash as per the list compiled by the ICT division. It collected data from Upazila levels prepared by the local committees formed with representatives from the district and Upazila administrations, union council chairpersons and members, teachers and influential people.

The government used the poverty map while selecting the people as the areas having highest poverty incidences got priority in the list.