Staff Correspondent

The first-phase of the 100-day job generation scheme is set to begin on Monday for an initial period of sixty days throughout the country, a senior government official said on Saturday.

"We are fully prepared to launch the project," food and disaster management secretary Molla Waheeduzzaman told bdnews24.com.
 
The government had earlier formulated a set of guidelines for the Tk 2,000 crore project that aims to create two million jobs in two phases in all 64 districts of the country.
 
The first phase of the programme will run until November, with a 40-day second phase scheduled to start in March next year.
 
Molla Waheeduzzaman said the jobs planned under the project would be similar to those under the Test Relief and Food for Work projects.
 
The project is largely aimed at completing certain works relating to the development of the agricultural sector.
 
Manufacturing organic manure and digging ponds as well as constructing embankments and roads will be among the critical jobs workers under the initiative will carry out.
 
A worker will get Tk 100 for a day's work, with just one person from a family eligible to participate. In addition, regardless of whether work is available, those registered as destitute between the ages of 18 and 50 will receive some payment.
 
Those who register will get at a minimum Tk 40 per-day for the first 30 days if there is no work available and will receive Tk 50 for the remaining days.
 
However, according to the guidelines those not showing up for work will receive no money.
 
Monga-hit, haor-baor and areas prone to river erosion have been designated as priority areas.
 
Md Asaduzzaman, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, welcomed the project saying: "It's a good initiative. India successfully implemented a similar project."
 
Talking to bdnews24.com, Asaduzzaman said he welcomed the initiative as a way to assist poor villagers from mid-September to November when they are often without jobs.
 
Nevertheless, the BIDS researcher sounded a note of caution regarding proper implementation of the project, claiming it was not clear whether the works under the project were properly planned.
 
Finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam had announced in his budget speech that the scheme would get Tk 2000 crore for 2008-09.
 
The disaster management ministry will be in charge of the project, with a steering committee led by the secretary to supervise the programme.

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