Cultural protection schemes’expansion falls brief of needs
The social back-up programmes (SSNPs) for the next fiscal year have generally centered on expanding the coverage of the prevailing schemes amid calls to create them better targeted, increase allocation you need to include the brand new poor amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal allocated Tk 95,574 crore for various interpersonal safety net programmes, that was Tk 74,367 crore in the initial budget and Tk 81,865 crore in the revised cover this fiscal year.
The allocation is 16.83 per cent of Tk 568,000 crore budget and 3.01 per cent of Bangladesh's Tk 3,171,800 crore gross domestic product.
Under the SSNPs, the total amount of beneficiaries rose 16.06 % to 66.11 crore from 56.96 crore in fiscal 2019-20.
The allocation for the brand new schemes rose to Tk 492.34 crore in fiscal 2020-21 from Tk 288.39 crore in the revised budget, data from the finance ministry confirmed.
The allocation for gratuitous relief (GR) rose almost six times to Tk 3,062 crore in fiscal 2020-21 from the current fiscal year's original price range. The quantity of beneficiaries will be 2.6 crore, up from 2.55 crore.
The allocation for the task for money program doubled to Tk 1,500 crore, from Tk 750 crore. The amount of beneficiaries rose to 15 lakh, which was 8.64 lakh in the outgoing fiscal year.
The budget has proposed to allocate Tk 972 crore for the open industry sales operations, up from Tk 949 crore in fiscal 2019-20.
The allocation for the Food-Friendly Program went up to Tk 3,844 crore from Tk 2,624 crore in today's budget, finance ministry info showed.
The stipend for the students at secondary and higher secondary amounts went up 102 per cent to Tk 3,964 crore for the doubling of beneficiary students to 70.87 lakh from 35 lakh.
There are four stipend schemes and the entire allocation doubled from Tk 2,084 crore in fiscal 2019-20 to Tk 4,090 crore in the incoming fiscal year.
The stipends for the students at primary schools rose to Tk 900 crore from Tk 722 crore this season.
Kamal has proposed to allocate Tk 2,157 crore in fiscal 2020-21 for building homes for the homeless, which was only Tk 25 crore this fiscal time. The quantity of beneficiaries would be 2.55 crore, up from 2.96 lakh in fiscal 2019-20.
The allocation for the SSNPs includes Tk 3,000 crore reserve as interest subsidies for the loans going to the tiny and micro industries and companies damaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
Another Tk 2,000 crore has been allocated to subsidise partial interest waiver in the suspended loans at professional banks.
In fiscal 2020-21, the government would distribute Tk 500 crore among 50 lakh families whose livelihoods have already been damaged by the pandemic.
Kamal offers allocated Tk 6,625 crore to bear part of the interest in the savings schemes.
There is no such allocation in the initial budget for this fiscal year however the revised budget allocated Tk 6,766 crore with the objective.
The agriculture ministry received Tk 1,900 crore in farm subsidies and the assistance would cover 87 lakh tiny and marginal farmers. The ministry acquired another Tk 2,500 crore for farm rehabilitation, up from Tk 160.85 crore this fiscal year.
Kamal offers allocated Tk 322 crore found in grants to the groups of the government workers if indeed they die while found in duty. It had been Tk 220 crore in the revised budget.
Within the credit support programme, Tk 2,000 crore has been allocated for job creation through Palli Sanchay Lender, Probashi Kallyan Lender, Karmasangsthan Lender and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation.
Another Tk 3,000 crore has been reserve to run a good refinancing scheme for the low-income farmers and little businessmen.
The allowance for the old-age scheme rose to Tk 2,940 crore from Tk 2,640 crore, for the widow, deserted and destitute women to Tk 1,230 crore from Tk 1,020 crore and financially insolvent disabled to Tk 1,620 crore from Tk 1,390.
The honorarium for freedom fighters was unchanged at Tk 3,385 crore and the allocation for pension for retired government employees and their families was slightly right down to Tk 23,000 crore.
The allocation for the Vulnerable Group Development, among the largest back-up programmes, was up 3.4 % to Tk 1,756, while the allocation for Vulnerable Group Feeding programme, which provides food transfers to the poor during disasters and key religious festivals, was straight down 52 % to Tk 940 crore.
Overall, the SSNP cover the incoming fiscal calendar year largely aimed to improve allocation for the original programmes, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre.
The prevailing programmes are generally rural-based. But because of the coronavirus outbreak, the urban poor possesses emerged as a fresh group of poor. The government should target it, he explained yesterday.
Of the allocation, Tk 5,000 crore in interest support for the micro and small industries and companies, Rahman said.
They are part of the informal sector and most them don't operate through the formal banking channel. However, they have access to microfinance institutions (MFIs).
So, there is a dilemma of whether this support through the banking channel will be implemented. The government should rather allocate Tk 5,000 crore to the micro and little industries through MFIs in low-cost loans which can help revive the rural overall economy.
The allocation for 50 lakh families would covers the brand new poor. But the dependence on the financing is a lot more granted the urban poor and innovative poor created by the pandemic.
Rahman, also the chairperson of Brac, however, was surprised after since the allocation for the principal school students in stipend dropped from Tk 11,165 crore found in the revised spending plan to Tk 900 crore in the upcoming budget.
"That is a self-contradictory approach. The government possessed scope to widen it as the transfer is performed through banking institutions and the mothers of the students receive it. Additionally it is a question of girls empowerment."
Under the support program, each primary school student gets Tk 100 monthly which amount was set in 2004.
"This should have already been expanded to Tk 500 as the fund is well-utilised and goes right to the major portion of the poor."
The drop-outs from the principal education level would accelerate because of the pandemic.
"I hope the federal government would reconsider the stipend allocation for the principal school students. The decrease isn't acceptable at all."
The allocation for the Open Market Sale and the Food Friendly Programme ought to be increased since the urban poor would want support in the upcoming a few months regardless if the lockdown is eased, Rahman added.
Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Plan Exploration Institute of Bangladesh, welcomed the increased spending for the SSNPs but said there is a lack of targeting.
"The government is scattering money to too many SSNPs," he said on Thursday.
A temporary scheme should have been taken for many who have been let go or lost jobs because of the monetary fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is absolutely no such focus found in the budget."
