Speakers at an event titled “People-Friendly Budget Perspectives" expressed their desire on Tuesday for a people-friendly budget from the interim government.
The daylong, four-session seminar on the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2025–26 was held at the capital’s CIRDAP auditorium, organized by the social organization Nagorik Bikash O Kalyan (Nabik).
The session on the child-focused budget was chaired by Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, a professor at Stamford University.
The keynote was presented by Zafar Sadiq, an adviser to Save the Children in Bangladesh.
Zafar proposed that at least 20% of the national budget be allocated to children's education, health, and safety.
Tahmina Rahman Sathi, co-founder of Kids Time, emphasized that the first eight years of a child's life are crucial for brain development, and thus, funding for child care must be increased.
Omar Faruk, assistant professor at Stamford University, highlighted in his research the importance of ensuring an environmentally friendly budget for children.
Journalist and children's writer Abid Azam criticized the lack of attention to unidentified street children.
He said child rights are rarely addressed seriously and insisted that a separate budget for children must be introduced, along with mechanisms for review and accountability.
"Simply increasing the budget is not enough," he said.
The second session focused on the health sector. It was chaired by Dr Muzaherul Huq, former adviser of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region.
He said: “A healthy nation is a prosperous nation. Ultimately, our goal is to figure out how we can stay healthy. Corruption and waste in the health sector result from inefficiencies within the ministry. A significant portion of the budget remains unutilized. We must improve the quality of medical education; otherwise, progress is impossible.”
He also suggested introducing health education books at the primary level and warned against the use of plastic water bottles, urging people to become more conscious.
The keynote in the health session was presented by Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, a professor at the Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka.
He said: “Medicine is not being supplied properly in hospitals. Many fake patients are appearing. Due to a lack of ICU facilities, patients are dying. Equipment is broken, medicines are unavailable. Some patients are deliberately referred outside. These issues must be addressed.”
Professor Dr Major (Retd) Abdul Wahab Minar, psychiatrist and senior vice president of the AB Party, said: “Developed countries have strong healthcare systems because they’re developed as a whole. We often fail to realize that health is the foundation of all happiness. Abroad, patients wait long for appointments, which does not happen in Bangladesh. While fast treatment is good, it is not always effective."
He added: "Last year, around 557 people died of dengue. To reduce diseases like malaria, dengue, and chikungunya, we must control mosquitoes. But our ministers do not pay attention to these matters. We must also ensure treatment for people with intellectual disabilities and autism—without addressing these, digitization will be meaningless. We must work with love for our country.”
Rashed Rabbi, president of the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum, stressed the importance of working on public health.
“Air pollution, water pollution, and food consumption are extremely important. Selling or consuming adulterated food must be prohibited. There’s a lot of corruption in the health sector, including in audit systems. We must combat these,” he said.
The third session focused on the education sector and was chaired by Professor Dr Md Kamrul Hasan, vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University. The keynote was presented by Sabbir Hossain, assistant professor at the School of Education, Bangladesh Open University.
Sabbir Hossain noted that Unesco recommends 4.6% of the budget be allocated to education, but in Bangladesh, it is only around 2%.
He stressed the need to raise it to 4% to ensure digital facilities and infrastructural development.
