State Minister of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira said on Monday that her ministry’s Vulnerable Women Benefit (VWB) programme will help the rural, poor women to achieve economic prosperity by eradicating their food insecurity, malnutrition and financial uncertainty. Indira made the remarks while unveiling the website and the app of the programme at the ministry’s conference room at the Secretariat in the capital on Monday. “The VWB programme is a kind of social security. The beneficiaries of the scheme will include women who are insolvent, widowed, divorced, and don’t have any earning member in their families. The women selected for the programme will be those who are landless and those who own less than .15 decimal land. Also, these women will be aged between 20-50 years,” Indira said. Indira added that the scheme will be implemented in all the upazilas of the country gradually. Read: Finance in Common Summit: Investment in small-scale farmers, rural women, youth to get focus “It’s meant for the unions and the upazilas, not the municipalities and the city corporations. The programme will continue even if a union becomes a municipality,” said Indira. A presentation on the activities of the VWB programme was also screened during the inauguration ceremony. According to the presentation, a beneficiary of the programme will save Tk 240 per month in her account under a savings management scheme. This money will act as initial capital to run small businesses. After two years, a woman will be able to run her own business through using this capital and the trainings received under the programme. It aims to engage 10.40 lakh women. From January in 2023, each beneficiary will receive 30kg rice per month under the programme. The government is eying to lift 15 lakh women from acute poverty through VWB from 2025-26. Read: Civil Society calls for protecting climate vulnerable women and girls Interested women can apply for the programme from union digital centres, VWB app and local computer shops. They can also call 109 and 333 hotlines. Women living in remote regions like the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) will be able to apply offline through the VWB app in absence of internet connectivity. The application for the VWB programme starts on November 7 and will continue till November 21.Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol, Secretary of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry and Farida Parvin, Director General of the Department of Women’s Affairs, among others, were present at the event.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs on Sunday installed CCTV cameras in 108 buses plying on different routes in the capital city. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nessa Indira inaugurated the ‘Safe Journey of Women in Public Transport’ project at the Syed Nazrul Islam Convention Centre in Gabtoli. Among the buses, 25 are of Rajdhani Super Service Limited plying between Demra and Staff Quarters, 25 are of Basumati Transport Limited plying between Gabtoli and Gazipur, 25 are of Prajapati Paribahan Limited between Mohammadpur and Abdullahpur, 25 are of Paristhan Paribahan plying between Ghatarchar and Abdullahpur and eight buses from Gabtoli Express plying between Gabtoli and Sayedabad. The project is financed by the Ministry and implemented by non-government organization Deepto Foundation. Speaking as Chief Guest, Indira said that CCTV cameras will make public transport secure and friendly for women. “Women will feel comfortable as the cameras will make the passengers aware and careful about their actions. The government will gradually install CCTV cameras in all the buses of the country. The cameras will enable women to call 999 and 109 to lodge complaints. Besides, CCTV footage will also be used as proof in courts if any incident of harassment happens,” Indira said. The event was presided over by Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol, Secretary of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry. Aga Khan Mintu, Member of Parliament from Dhaka-14 constituency, attended the event as Special Guest while other officials of the Ministry and representatives from the transport sector were present at the program.  

Seven escapees from a Gazipur safe home were found at the Jaidebpur railway station and sent back. Fourteen female residents of a government safe home for children and adolescents in Gazipur escaped on Wednesday. With an immediate operation Gazipur Metropolitan Police were able to find 7 of them overnight. Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Md. Saidul Islam, senior officials of Gazipur district administration and department of women affairs visited the safe home complex after the incident. A five-member inquiry committee headed by Director General of the Department of Women's Affairs Monowara Ishrat has been formed to find out whether there was any negligence on the part of the authorities that allowed the 14 teenagers to flee. According to local sources, the residents were upset over the rude and abusive behavior of an employee named 'Mollah' in charge of the center. They were also dissatisfied with the quality of food. On Wednesday night, the window grill of the two-storey building of the center was broken and 14 residents fled one by one by making a passage with bed structure from the roof to the boundary wall, said Deputy Commissioner SM Tariqul Islam after inspecting the home. The organization lacked sufficient manpower and security personnel. The caretaker himself is not always present, according to Toriqul. He added that since girls reside in the institution, there is a need for female Ansar members on every floor of the home to provide security. Toriqul also said that he would send a recommendation to the ministry as he felt the need to increase the financial allocation for food of the residents. There are a total of 34 resident at this home.

The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has invited applications for the ‘Rokeya Padak-2020’.