By Ataur Rahman
DHAKA, June 22, 2020 (BSS) – The area of the social safety net programme is going to be expanded in future as 20 lakh more vulnerable people will be brought under the facilities.
Officials familiar with programme said about five crore people of the country are now directly or indirectly being benefited through it as currently eighty lakh people including low income group are now receiving various allowances under the programme.
Various ministries including the Social Welfare Ministry, the Women and Children Affairs Ministry, the Labour and Employment Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry are providing allowances to these vulnerable people.
For the next fiscal year, around Tk 96,000 crore have been allocated in the social safety net programme which was Tk 81,865 crore in the current fiscal.
The programme will be implemented by giving a special allocation of additional Taka 100 crore in the FY2020-21 as an incentive due to the COVID-19 in the rural areas.
Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzman Ahmed told BSS that currently the number of beneficiaries who are receiving various allowances and relief goods are 80 lakh.
At his directives and supervision, nearly Tk 26.50 crore, including allowance in advance, were distributed among 80.09 lakh beneficiaries at the district and upazila levels till this month under the social safety net programme in the wake of the COVID-19 situation.
The beneficiaries included elderly people, and women tortured by husbands, widows, orphans, underprivileged children, insolvent disabled people, students with disabilities, tea workers, the people suffering from various diseases, bede (gypsy) and hijra (third gender) communities.
The minister also said food and cash support have been given to 2,76,673 people as special relief during the corona period.
Of them, 1,02,736 people received the special assistance in Chattogram division, 87,932 people in Dhaka division, 22,994 in Rangpur division, 15,7000 people in Barishal division, 12,583 people in Khulna division, 11,123 people in Rajshahi division, 5,574 people in Mymensingh division and 5,286 people in Sylhet division and 12,745 in Dhaka city.
In the revised budget of the current fiscal year, the amount of allocation was Tk 64,404 crore, which is 14.21 percent of the total budget.
To alleviate poverty and reduce disparity, social safety strategy paper 2015 was formulated, and the government has adopted an action plan 2016-2021 to implement it.
To cut poverty, allocation is being increased gradually every year, and the amount in this sector will be doubled each year as per the election manifesto of the Awami League government.
Under the social safety net programme and social empowerment, all kinds of allowances, honorariums and donataion have been increased remarkably in 2019-20 fiscal year.
The freedom fighters are now getting Taka 12,000 as a monthly honorarium, and for this Tk 3,305 have been allocated in the current fiscal in this purpose.
Executive President of Jatiya Mohila Sramik League and member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Labour and Employment Shamsunnahar Bhuiyan, MP, said the government has widened the area of social safety net programme for the betterment of the working class people.
During the corona time, she said, a huge number of people are enjoying benefits of the special initiative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Shamsunnahar said the government has declared to bring down poverty rate to 12.30 percent and extreme poverty rate to 4.50 percent by 2023-24.
She said the government has taken “Amar Bari, Amar Khamar Project” in which 60 lakh families will be included gradually.
Shamsunnahar said under the social safety net programme, various allowances are now being given to nearly 80 lakh people of disadvantaged communities including elderly, widows, women abandoned by the husbands and hijra (third gender) and bede (gypsy).
She said in future the allowances will be distributed directly among the beneficiaries through electronic system which will help reduce the influence of the middlemen.