Hasen Banu is over 80. In the Korail slum, where her three sons and a daughter also live, she now spends a month at each child’s home.

At this age, even buying medicine regularly has become difficult. So the news of getting a “Family Card” has brought her some relief.

Speaking at her shack in Korail yesterday, Hasen Banu said she had heard the card would allow her to receive Tk 2,500 a month. With that money, she hopes to buy medicine regularly. Sometimes, she will also be able to buy milk, eggs and fruit, and even treat her grandchildren.

“If this had come earlier, I could have lived a little better,” she said.

Like Hasen Banu, many other women in Korail are hopeful about the new programme.

Residents said they had not seen such a process in a long time, one where no money was demanded and no political or organisational influence was involved.

Announcements were made through loudspeakers, people were approached at their homes and assistance was provided in filling out the forms.

At least 40,000 families will receive Family Cards in the pilot phase over the next four months, which will cost about Tk 39 crore.

In Dhaka’s Sattala slum, the 30-year-old Shiuli Akter, a single mother of three, is equally excited.

To make ends meet, she works in different households from morning to night.

“With this money, I will at least be able to buy some better food for my children -- just thinking about that makes me happy,” said Shiuli, who rushed to fill out the form when announcements were made in the area.

Not everyone, however, was able to apply. For those without national ID card, mobile number or mobile financial services account, the assistance remains out of reach.

Nearly one-third the women in Bhashantek slum was unable to sign up for these reasons, according to local Jubo Dol leader Mosharraf Sardar.

Motaleb Hossain, assistant head teacher of Moonlight High School, a kindergarten school in Korail slum, said they had spent the last week helping poor families, especially women-headed households, fill out the six-page form. Four days were spent filling out forms, followed by three days correcting errors.

Officials and field-level workers from the Social Welfare Department were involved in the process. For families with up to five members, one card was issued in the name of the woman heading the household. In some cases, families with six or more members received two cards.

There is a lot of information that has to be entered in the form: national ID numbers, parents’ information, husband’s information, nominee, names of family members, their ID or birth registration numbers, assets, household furniture, annual income and whose mobile number is being used.

Many women in the slum did not have their own mobile phone numbers. Some used the numbers of their husbands, brothers or children. Later, many opened new bKash accounts and returned to have the forms corrected.

According to him, the work was completed on Friday. But even on Saturday and Sunday, people kept coming, saying they had been left out. Some had been in their villages, some lacked the required documents, and some had only birth registration certificates, which were not accepted in place of national ID cards.

“We worked day and night so that everyone could apply. There were loudspeaker announcements for two days, and we also went from house to house. This is a pilot project. The first four months will show how it works,” Motaleb said.

During a visit to Korail’s TNT field yesterday between 10:30am and noon, preparations were underway for the programme’s inauguration event scheduled for March 10. There was visible excitement among residents.

Many women said they had not seen such a transparent process in a long time, where no money was demanded and even mistakes in the forms were later corrected after applicants were called back.

The 14 upazilas selected for the pilot phase included Banani (Korail, Sattala and Bhashantek slums) and Mirpur/Shah Ali (Oli Miar Tek and Baganbari slums) in Dhaka, among other districts.

The pilot phase, which will cost the state Tk 39 crore, will last for four months and 40,000 families will be selected.

The government’s ultimate objective is to gradually bring two crore families under monthly cash support, as per the guideline.