Food supply to stop at 20 govt daycare centers from Wednesday over unpaid bills

Food supply for children at 20 government-run daycare centers will be suspended from tomorrow, Wednesday, due to unpaid bills. Parents have been asked to bring food for their children at their own responsibility. This message was sent today, Tuesday, to parents through WhatsApp groups from the daycare centers.

These daycare centers are being operated under the Department of Women Affairs’ project titled “Establishment of 20 Child Daycare Centers.” Alongside uncertainty over the continuation of the project, dissatisfaction has emerged at the centers over five months of unpaid salaries and allowances. Due to nine months of unpaid food bills, two contracting firms have announced that they will stop supplying food to the centers from 1 April.

Prothom Alo on Tuesday published a report titled “20 child daycare centers in crisis, concern.” It is learned that after the publication of the report, the minister of women and children affairs ministry and social welfare ministry Abu Zafar Md Zahid Hossain, instructed that the problem be resolved quickly. Following his directive, a meeting of the Project Steering Committee (PSC) has been scheduled for Wednesday. The secretary of the women and children affairs ministry serves as the head of the PSC.

After the project’s tenure ended in June 2025, it was extended for one more year until June 2026. Following the extension, the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) recommended extending the contract with the contractors.

However, the Project Steering Committee did not approve this in a meeting held in February. As a result, although the contractors continued supplying food, they have not received payment for nine months. The outstanding dues of the two contracting firms amount to approximately Tk 12.5 million.

Each of the 20 daycare centers has a capacity of 60 children. Children aged 4 months to 6 years are kept there from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm. Monthly fees are determined based on parents’ income. Depending on the child’s age, the monthly service charge ranges from a minimum of Tk 1,000 to a maximum of Tk 2,000. There are 10 centers in Dhaka and 10 outside Dhaka.

From the daycare center established at the Bangladesh National Library in Agargaon in the capital, a message was sent today via WhatsApp group asking parents to arrange and bring food for their children themselves.

The message stated that after the project ended in June 2025, no new contract was signed between the project office and the food supplier. Although food supply continued under verbal instructions, the contractor has informed that due to not receiving payment for a long nine months, it will stop supplying child food from 1 April.

In this context, despite informing the project office multiple times both verbally and through letters, no solution has yet been reached. Under these circumstances, food supply at the daycare centers will remain suspended from Wednesday, 1 April until further instructions are received.

Tanzila Mostafiz keeps her two-and-a-half-year-old child at this centre. She told Prothom Alo that she became worried after suddenly receiving such a message. The centre used to provide milk and bread to the children in the morning. Cooked meals were served at noon—different items on different days, such as rice with meat, chicken or vegetables. Afternoon snacks included falooda, pudding and yogurt with flattened rice.

She said that from tomorrow she will pack a full day’s food for her child. She is worried about whether the food provided by the parents of 60 children will be stored in refrigerators and whether those foods will be properly heated before serving. Her child does not eat cold food.

On the other hand, a message sent to parents at the childcare centre set up at Pani Bhaban in Panthapath read, “Childcare services will continue. However, due to the absence of food supply, you will have to provide food for your children.”

Mahia Tasnuva, the daycare officer at the centre set up at Bhumi Bhaban in Tejgaon, told Prothom Alo that the contractor has informed them that food supply will also stop at their centre from tomorrow due to unpaid bills. Therefore, they have asked parents to bring food.

Regarding parents’ concerns, she said, “We will try to feed the children properly. Food used to be cooked here, and a system had been developed for what food would be served at what time. Now managing different foods brought by different parents will create additional pressure on us.”

Mahia Tasnuva also said that their salaries had been unpaid for eight months. After Eid, on 24 March, they received three months of dues. Still, five months of salary remain unpaid. They are also facing hardship but are not neglecting the care of the children.

Among the 20 daycare centres, Dhali Enterprise supplies food to 15 centres, while Tamanna Trading Corporation supplies to 5 centres.

Murad Hossain, manager of Dhali Enterprise, told Prothom Alo that they usually provide dry groceries to the centres between the 1st and 2nd of each month. Fish and meat are supplied two to three times a month. Some dry food items are provided once a week. In addition, they give cash regularly to the centres to purchase fresh items like vegetables and milk. From Wednesday, he will stop supplying groceries to all centres.

Replying to a query, he said he feels very bad about stopping the supply but can no longer continue, as his unpaid bills over nine months amount to Tk 8.5 million to 9 million.

Md. Al Mamun, an official of Tamanna Trading Corporation, made similar remarks. He told Prothom Alo that his unpaid bills over nine months amount to Tk 3.8 million to 4 million. He also said he will not be able to supply food from Wednesday.

When asked about the crisis, Shabnam Mostari, Additional Secretary and project director at the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, told Prothom Alo, “Today the minister has instructed to hold a PSC meeting next Thursday. He has asked for a quick resolution of the problem. We hope the issue will be resolved at Thursday’s meeting. For the two days in between, parents will have to bring food for their children.”