A mild cold wave is sweeping through Panchagarh district on Sunday, disrupting normal life of people. Mohamamd Russel Shah, officer-in-charge of Tentulia Weather Observatory, said “The lowest temperature of the country was recorded at 9.4 ˚C at Tetulia in Panchagarh around 9 am on Sunday and it was the same on Saturday.” The temperature in Tetulia was recorded at 9 ˚C on December 16 and December 17, the lowest in this season, he said. Read:Motorbike Riding in Winter: How to beat the cold weather? “The cold wave accompanied with dense fog will aggravate by end of December,” he added. The affluent are buying warm clothes, while the poor – day labours, workers, peasants and floating people – are getting worried. Poor people are seen lighting fire with straw and tree leaves to fight the cold at night.  Morning time drivers are using headlights because dense fog blankets the roads in were seen driving vehicles after turning on their headlights in the daytime due to thick fog in the morning. Lack of work has compounded the woes of the day labours. Like the previous year, the local administration has distributed 22,000 blankets in the five upazilas of the district, which is less than the demand. The administration estimates a three lakh poor and destitute in the district who need help. Khatibur Rahman, a resident of Boda upazila, said “Cold wave is a curse for us as it is difficult for us to arrange warm clothes. That’s why we keep ourselves warm by lighting fire.”

Police have arrested a 33-year-old woman in Chattogram for allegedly duping poor people on the pretext of providing loans. The arrestee has been identified as Jannatun Naima. On Monday evening, the victims, mostly low-income earners and beggars, gheraoed Naima’s office in the Hamzarbagh area and demanded that she returned their money. Cops were soon alerted and a team from the Panchlaish police station rushed to her rescue, only to place her under arrest subsequently. Also read: Two arrested for IGP's signature fraud According to police, Jannatun runs an NGO -- ‘Save As Your Earn’ -- but she has not taken the mandatory licence from the government. Officer-in-charge of Panchlaish police station Zahidul Kabir said, "Naima who started the NGO last year took money from domestic helps and other economically poor people in the name of arranging a loan of Tk 4,000 each from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief." "The NGO collected Tk 200 each from around 14,000 low-income earners over the past two years," he added. Also read: Man gets one year in jail over fraud in Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar project To gain people’s trust, the accused showed them a draft of the loan documents, forging the signature of a deputy secretary of the department of Disaster Management, the OC said. Whenever people would enquire about the loans, she would tell them that they will get a phone call directly from the ministry, said OC Zahidul.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the improvement of life and livelihood of the poor people will get highest priority in the next national budget.  “Our next national budget will be dedicated to the poor people,” he said while briefing reporters on the outcomes of the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday. Responding to a question on a survey report which shows that poor people are getting poorer, he said the government’s target is to bring the poor people out of poverty.      Also read: No uncertainty over receiving vaccine doses: Finance Minister He informed that implementation of a government plan to provide Tk 2,500 each to 3.5 million low-income group people as Covid-19 financial support is getting delayed due to lack of introduction of a formal system.  “Many of these people don’t have national ID cards for which setting up a system is being delayed. But once the system is in place, the task will be very easy,” he said.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Saturday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has put smiles on the faces of the poor people in the country.

Around 200 low-income and poor people demonstrated in front of Manirampur Upazila Parishad in Jashore demanding food aid as there is no income because of restrictions on movement to curb coronavirus transmission.   The people of Sundalpur, Agarhati, Gangra, Mohadebpur, Dolkhola, Mohonpur and Joypur village gathered at the upazila parishad compound for relief.   But they had to return empty-handed after waiting for hours.   Shahidul Islam, a transport worker from Sundalpur village, said he had no income as he could not go out amid restriction. “I haven’t received any food aid so far,” he said.   Another worker Harun said they waited in an open field for hours but at one stage, the uazila nirbahi officer left office.   However, Upazila Parishad Chairman Nazma Khanom assured them that the local administration would distribute food aid going from door to door.   UNO Ahsan Ulla Sharifi said 15 metric tonnes of rice had already been distributed. “Another 19 tonnes will be distributed. Besides, there is a help line. If anyone calls us and seeks relief, we’ll go to their houses with food aid,” he said.   He said they also prepared a list of people who came to the upazila parishad for help. “We’ll distribute food among them soon,” he said.