Experts have opined that various social safety-net programs for the poor and underprivileged people including allowances are not enough at all in the situation of dire inflation in Bangladesh.
The opinion was made in a pre-budget discussion on Wednesday.
Economists, experts and representatives of marginalized communities have highlighted their views, needs and various demands in this discussion of the Public-Budget Parliament.
They also strongly demanded to ensure a minimum tax-free income limit of Tk6 lakh and to ensure minimum 100 days of work in a year at the rate of Tk500 per day for the ultra-poor people.
Discussants also emphasized the introduction of a rationing system for all low income people including informal sector workers, creation of a national database.
In the first session of the day, a demand has been made that the government should pay the premium for the low-income earners who cannot afford it if the government wants to make the target of bringing all under pension schemes truly universal.
Two sessions were held in the Public Budget Parliament in a joint initiative of Oxfam and the Democratic Budget Movement at Cirdap Auditorium in the capital.
Inflation woes: Economists blame policymakers, unethical practices
BB: High inflation reducing forex reserves
Inflation woes: Economists blame policymakers, unethical practices
BB: High inflation reducing forex reservesSafety and Rights Society (SRS), Participatory Research Action and Network (PRAN) and The Earth were co-hosts of the program.
The title of the first session of the day was - “Public proposals to deal with inflation and financial stress”.
Dr MM Akash, professor of the economics department in Dhaka University, former MP Dr Shamim Haider Patwari and Research Director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem attended the discussion as guests in this session.
The moderators were Democratic Budget Movement (DBM) executive committee member Zakia Shishir and DBM vice-president AR Aman. DBM General Secretary Manowar Mostafa gave the opening speech.
The keynote was presented by DBM Senior Researcher Md Shahidullah and Moushumi Biswas of ActionAid.
Oxfam Bangladesh Program Coordinator Engineer Debraj Dey delivered the welcome address in the first session.
He highlighted the need for participatory budgeting and his organization's commitment to ensuring equitable distribution of resources.
In the discussion, Professor MM Akash said that inflation has been around 12% on an average for the last two-three years, under this pressure the average income of people has decreased by about 24%.
He said that due to the combined corruption of businessmen, bureaucrats and politicians, money and resources are not only being concentrated, but also being laundered indiscriminately.
The DU professor commented that if it is possible to stop money laundering, it would be possible to fulfill many of the demands of the common people regarding social safety-net.
Former MP Shamim Patwari from Jatiya Party said that budget management should be done in public interest rather than bureaucratic and business oriented.
He expressed his frustration for the lack of participation of local governments and representatives in budget formulation, lack of budget for judiciary, lack of allocation for migration and skill development.
He also opined that the country's economy is under severe pressure due to the wrong energy policy.
"With the amount of money we give for capacity charges as a subsidy, it was possible to ensure more benefits in the social safety-net program than now," said the former lawmaker.
Khondaker Golam Moazzem opined that inequality is not reducing due to economic, political and institutional policy weaknesses, and the distribution of resources is not being balanced.
In the keynote, Md Shahidullah recommended doubling the social security allowance and enacting the Pension and Universal Social Security Act in the upcoming budget.
Moushumi Biswas, representative of ActionAid, proposed procedural reforms in gender budgeting and creating a culture of accountability.
The title of the second session of the Parliament was “Investing in Green Economy, Just Transition and Youth Dividend'.
Papers were presented in this session by M Zakir Hossain Khan of Change Initiative, Rubaya Nasrin Shejuti of Oxfam Bangladesh and Mosleh Uddin Suchok of The Earth.
The speakers in the papers said that the driving force behind the green economy is greening employment. If green jobs are not created, the economy will remain dependent. This concept has to be made understandable to common people and to involve them. Investment in fossil fuels should be stopped and investment in clean, renewable energy should be increased. Incentives for private investment interested in this sector should be ensured.
“To make the economy green, every sector has to be green. Carbon emissions from all sectors should be brought close to zero. It will require policy changes as well as specific and adequate allocation in the budget," said Zakir Hossain.
About 25 representatives of different classes and professions and districts participated in this public-budget parliament.
They highlighted various demands including housing schemes for low-income people, structural reforms to ensure fair payment to farmers, special allocations for improving the livelihood of workers, special allowances for working maternity mothers, community day care, increasing allowances for disabled persons, technical education and training, allocations for the development of Dalit communities and allocation of fresh water for the people of the coastal areas.
