The NGO said the bank should be like a multilateral donor agency and it must provide unconditional soft loans for members to cut poverty.

Making Safta (South Asian Free Trade Area) effective and preparing a common sensitive list to face the global trade are also needed to fight poverty in the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) bloc, the NGO said in a draft proposal

Campaign for Good Governance or Supro, a network of local NGOs, unveiled the draft proposal at a seminar on alleviation of poverty in the South Asian region. The final proposal paper will be prepared before the 14th Saarc summit scheduled for April 2-4 in New Delhi.

The Saarc nations must be freed from genetically modified (GM) foods, the draft said, adding that political unity among the South Asians is key to eliminating poverty by 2062.

Speakers at the seminar attributed the non-cooperation of member states in economic and social issues to the failure of the Saarc.

They observed political division in the bloc has led to its ineffectiveness.

Arms competition in the region is also increasing the rate of poverty, the speakers said. Around 40 per cent population is living below the poverty line in the region, although poverty eradication is one of the priority pledges of the Saarc that came into being 22 years ago, the speakers added.

Coordinator of Supro Research Department Syed Aminul Haq presented the draft proposal, which was prepared on the basis of secondary data provided by different organisations such as UN and Social Watch.

Former finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, former state minister for religious affairs Moshrraf Hossain Shahjahan, former advisers to the caretaker government CM Shafi Sami, Sultana Kamal, former state minister for foreign affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury, former parliament members Dr Alauddin Ahmed, Abdul Mannan, Manoranjan Gopal and Sarder Sakhawat Hossain Bakul spoke.