After one day of installation, the ‘Rice ATM’ in the village has helped hundreds of workers from the nearby industrial parks who lost their job and unable to buy food due to the social blockade imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Waiting patiently in line, workers were standing two meters apart and sanitized their hands before leaving with two kilograms of rice.

A local worker receives rice from the new ‘Rice ATM’ in Bac Giang. Photo: Bac Giang Newspaper

The ‘Rice ATM’ at Trung Dong village is an initiative of Vietnam High-Tech Investment and Development Joint Stock Company in collaboration with Dai Bi Community Volunteer Center, with the support of domestic sponsors.

According to the secretary of the Party Committee of Trung Dong village Hoang Van Chuong Hien, ‘rice coupons’ of two kg each will be given to workers. “It needs only one person to operate this ‘Rice ATM’ which gives out rice for hundreds of workers daily,” he said.

‘Rice ATM’ is quite simple, it includes an automatic rice dispensing system and a control button. Behind the machine, the rice is stored in giant elevated vats and funneled through plastic pipes into bags brought in by individuals.  

Coming to take rice, workers have to disinfect their hands, wear facemasks and stand on marked places to make sure they are two meters apart from each other.

Workers are waiting for their turns to take rice from 'Rice ATM' in Bac Giang province. Photo: Bac Giang Newspaper

“We are very grateful to the benefactors who care of us during these difficult days of social isolation,” Nong Ngoc Thang, Worker of Luxshare-ICT Co., Ltd. said.

In order to replicate the ‘Rice ATM model’, Viet Yen district continues to mobilize donors to install more similar ATMs, especially at the communes where many workers are under medical isolation live.

As of late May 26, Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang remained the top locality nationwide for the number of infections with 1,520 cases among a total of 6086. The number of people undergoing both centralized and home quarantine in Bac Giang was nearly 82,000 people.

Earlier, four industrial parks that house 504 enterprises in Bac Giang province have been closed since May 18 due to widespread transmission of novel coronavirus.

The first ‘Rice ATM’ invented in HCMC last year has inspired similar initiatives nationwide to help those in poverty survive the pandemic in Vietnam.