Half of registered fishermen in Nijhum Island not getting govt rice
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Noakhali Correspondent
The government has imposed a 22-day ban on fishing during the Hilsa breeding season in Hatiya , an isolated island upazila of Noakhali district.
During this time, fishermen have lost their livelihood, but government food assistance is not reaching all registered fishermen families. As a result, more than half of the families are suffering from extreme frustration and anger after being deprived of this assistance.
According to the Upazila Fisheries Office, Hilsa was harvested from the Meghna River and Bay of Bengal in the district in the 2024-25 fiscal year. While there are over a lakh fishermen in Hatia, the number of registered fishermen is currently 25,995. But only 15,733 families out of them will be given 25 kg of rice under the VGF program. As a result, more than half of the fishing families are staying out of government assistance.
Local fishermen said that they suffered greatly during the ban period by losing their only source of income. Therefore, it is very important to ensure assistance during this season. They demanded that all registered fishermen be brought under food assistance as soon as possible.
