Safety net outlay to hit 3pc of GDP for first-time
The government may allocate Tk 95,155 crore for the safety net programmes within the next fiscal year since it looks to broaden the number of beneficiaries to support those who are struggling to create ends meet following the coronavirus outbreak.
The allocation will be 27.95 % greater than Tk 74,367 crore reserve in today's fiscal year and 3 per cent of the gross domestic product of Bangladesh, according to the official of the finance ministry.
The allocation was 2.58 per cent of the GDP in FY2019-20.
Millions of people have lost their jobs owing to the countrywide shutdown enforced from March 26 to flatten the curve on the deadly virus.
As a result of income shock due to the pandemic, 77.2 per cent of the vulnerable non-poor fell below the poverty line, according to a joint survey of the energy and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac Institute for Governance and Development.
This would imply beyond the 20.5 % of the population officially recognised as poor, there exists a group of "new poor" representing yet another 22.9 % of the populace that would have to be brought within the discussion on poverty.
About 74 per cent families have seen a decrease in income due to the coronavirus pandemic, a joint study of Brac, Data Sense and Unnayan Shamannay showed.
The situation prompted the government to strengthen the spending for the social back-up programmes (SSNPs) by Tk 20,788 crore in FY2020-21, starting on July 1.
The allocation per beneficiary wouldn't normally go up regarding amount; rather, the quantity of beneficiaries would increase.
The federal government is boosting the allocation for eight core back-up programmes, especially those of food-based ones. There are 81 lakh beneficiaries beneath the schemes and that number will rise by 10 lakh.
The number of widows, destitute and deserted women entitled to Tk 500 monthly support from the federal government would increase by 8.5 lakh. Another 2.5 lakh would be added to the set of the financially insolvent disabled, who receive Tk 750 a month.
The quantity of beneficiaries obtaining maternity allowance would go up by 10 %. Currently, 750,000 individuals get such a payment.
The government's technique to expand the SSNPs as one of the four strategic priorities for FY21 must be proactively pursued, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said in a virtual briefing on Sunday.
The government should allocate at least 3 per cent of the GDP for the SSNPs as outlined in its National Social Security Strategy formulated in 2015, it said.
The federal government has prepared a list of 50 lakh households as beneficiaries to be covered under its support programme in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The government should take support of NGOs and local-level social organisations in identifying, selecting and distributing the support, also to address inclusion and exclusion bias in selection process and adopt a whole of society approach," the CPD said.
The meals and cash support is becoming crucial as a significant portion of the populace is facing food insecurity due to the pandemic, Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of the PPRC, told The Daily Star recently.
There are a great number of questions whether the report on the beneficiaries is being done properly and the support has been distributed appropriately, he said.
The SSNPs likewise incorporate the pension likely to the civil servants. If the allocation for the retired government employees and their own families is excluded, the SSNP cover the poor would reduce significantly, according to Rahman, also the chairperson of Brac.
So, the true allocation for the indegent should be clear, he said.
The allocation for the pension has been kept unchanged at Tk 23,010 crore for the FY21, which is 31 % of the full total SSNP budget in the FY20 and it could be 24.18 per cent in FY21.
Excluding the allocation for the pensioners and their own families, the total SSNP budget stands at Tk 72,145 crore, which would be 2.50 % of the Tk 2,885,872-crore GDP of Bangladesh.
The government should intensify to introduce schemes for the urban poor as almost all of the programmes target beneficiaries in the rural areas, Rahman said.
"We don't have any programme for the urban poor for the reason that sense. From the coronavirus pandemic, we found realise in a large way that the urban poor may be the new unaddressed poor. It could be better when there is an explanation how much of the safety net programmes is going to the urban poor."
Back-up programmes in Bangladesh have been contributing to the reduced amount of poverty and vulnerability by addressing a variety of population groups through different varieties of assistance, the World Bank said.
Included in these are the provision of income security for older people, widows, and persons-with-disabilities, making short-term employment for working age women and men, and supporting the healthy development of young mothers and children.
The government aims to double the budget allocation in the SSNP sector in the next five years.
