With the increasing amount of social protection fund, the government should monitor to ensure that only genuine people get the fund to help reduce poverty rapidly, economists said yesterday.
They were speaking at a launching ceremony of National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) 2015 organised by Planning Commission at the NEC conference room.
Research Director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Binayak Sen said, “Presently, Tk300 to Tk500 is given to a beneficiary. This is not enough for reducing poverty. It should be increased at least three times for faster poverty alleviation.”
Economist MM Akash underscored the need of proper implementation of NSSS 2015 to make a poverty-free nation.
“The government should target genuine beneficiaries to avoid overlapping,” he said.
He said quality education is very important to get a decent job and also to reduce poverty.
Akash suggested reshuffling of Madrasha education curriculum and introduction of vocational education to have better results in eliminating poverty.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said over the last six years, the government has been spending 12% of its national budget in social protection programme.
The government introduced social protection programme in 2010 and saw a significant progress in poverty reduction.
According to the NSSS, poverty reduced from 56.7% in 1991-92 to 48.9% in 2000 and 31.5% in 2010 to an estimated 25% in 2015.
It said the impoverished people are vulnerable to shocks such as illness, unemployment, loss of assets, natural disasters, political crisis and global recession, pushing them further into the abyss of poverty.
It noted that people are exposed to various kinds of shocks and stresses defined by stages in the life cycle.
During early childhood, lack of nutrition has an impact on bodily and cognitive development; there is strong correlation between inter-generational poverty and malnutrition, it said.
It said the country has a range of socially excluded population groups facing various kinds of discrimination and barriers.
Social exclusion keeps people poor and, conversely, poverty contributes to and exacerbates social exclusion, it said.
To ensure that socially excluded groups have similar access as the rest of the population to all social security programmes and to all publicly provided basic services is a major agenda in NSSS.
Currently, there are 145 social safety net programmes; implemented by 23 line ministries, spending Tk30,800 crore (FY2014-15), accounting for 13% of the national budget, at a level of 2% of GDP.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Planning Abul Kalam Azad, State Minister for Social Welfare Promode Mankin, UNDP Country Director Pauline Tamesis and DFID Country Representative Sarah Cooke spoke at the function, among others.