TDS Desk:

The upcoming budget for FY 2024-25 will include a provision to add fresh 600,000-700,000 citizens as beneficiaries under the social safety net programme.

Hence, the government plans to raise the allocation in this sector in the 2024-2025 budget, an officer in the finance ministry said.

They, however, did not want to disclose the amount of total allocation or the allowance per person.

The officers said the government would likely increase the allocation to the social safety net sector in the next budget by Tk 100 billion.

At least Tk 1.26 trillion was allocated to implement the 47 social safety net projects in the 2023-2024 budget. This was equivalent to 16.58 percent of the total budget and 2.52 percent of the GDP.

A finance ministry official said a little more than Tk 1.35 trillion will be allocated for the social safety net programme in FY2025, equivalent to 17.1 percent of the total budget and 2.69 of the GDP.

“The key focus is curbing inflation in the upcoming budget. Besides, the number of beneficiaries of the social safety net programme will be raised to ease the lives of the people from the lower income groups a little,” said State Minister for Finance Waseqa Ayesha Khan.

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali is set to table the proposed budget of Tk 7.95 trillion on Jun 6. The 2023-2024 budget stood at Tk 7.61 trillion.

Accordingly, the upcoming budget will be 4.36 percent bigger than the last one. The GDP growth target has been set at 6.5 percent.

As many as 200,000 new beneficiaries of the elderly people allowance will be included as the government plans to expand the social safety net programme in the upcoming budget, said an official of the budget division in the finance ministry. Another 200,000 citizens will be added under the destitute and widow allowance programme and 150,000 under the mother and child assistance programme.

“Altogether, we expect good news for the social safety net programme in the upcoming budget,” they said, adding some beneficiaries will fall under the purview of the disabled people assistance programme.

Bangladesh has a population of 169.8 million as per the 2023 census. At least 4.6 million of them are disabled, which is equivalent to 2.8 percent of the total population.

The current budget had a plan to provide an elderly allowance to 5.8 million citizens. The upcoming budget plans to provide this allowance to 6 million citizens.

The current budget included 2.5 million beneficiaries under the destitute and widow allowance which will increase to 2.8 million in the next budget. The number of beneficiaries of the mother and child assistance programme will also rise from 1.3 million to 1.5 million.

More people with disabilities who belong to lower income groups will be brought under the social safety net programme in the 2024-2025 budget. The figure currently stands at 2.9 million.

Financial assistance to the widows and women victimised by their husbands is also a part of the social safety net programme. Under the programme, the government allocated Tk 17.11 billion for 2.5 million beneficiaries at a monthly rate of Tk 550 per person in the 2023-24 budget.

Experts, however, differed in their opinions on how helpful the Tk 550 amount was amid the escalating inflation.

Prof Saima Bidisha Haque of Dhaka University said that in reality, the amount was quite ‘meagre.’

She said the sector needed a vast overhaul.

“Besides raising the number of beneficiaries, the government must increase the per capita allowance,” she said.

“We saw positive changes in the sector in the last budget. But the amount must be increased. OMS must be expanded, more trucks are needed. The price of essentials should be decreased, more rations should be arranged if necessary. We need a lot of things to be done in this sector.”

Bangladeshi male citizens over 65 years of age and females over 62 years with an annual income below Tk 10,000 can apply for an elderly allowance.

According to the website of the Directorate of Social Welfare, 5.8 million elderly people received Tk 42.05 billion at a monthly rate of Tk 600.

Elderly people from the marginal groups are more vulnerable. At least 6.14 percent of the total 169.8 million population are aged over 65 years, according to the national census. Hence, more than 11 million people fall into this group of elderly people.

More than half of the elderly citizens were brought under the social safety net, as per the Directorate of Social Welfare.

Here, too, the focus was on the number of beneficiaries rather than the amount of allowance which stood at Tk 600 per month. The amount is quite meagre according to the current market, experts believe.

Prof Bidisha recommended focusing on the social safety of the marginalised group of people. But, she also highlighted the need to consider the marginal group of people living in urban slums. The government has very little allocation for the urban areas and very few projects handling it, which means a major change is needed in that sector, she said.

She also recommended increasing the budget allocation for women and third-gender people to ensure their economic empowerment, access to the job market and to reduce the violence against them. (Source: bdnews)