Take steps to protect poor, low-income groups
The government should take immediate steps to protect the poor and low-income groups as it is set to impose fresh lockdowns to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, economists said yesterday.
They said the low-income groups would fall into difficulties once again because of the sudden reinstatement of lockdown. The poverty rate will accelerate if the measure prolongs from the initial seven days.
The government decided to impose a week-long countrywide lockdown from tomorrow.
Binayak Sen, the new director-general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), said every wave of Covid-19 contained the risks of creating new poverty. But the new poor tried to recover fast from distress after a particular wave was over.
"So, the government should be ready to give temporary social protection to avoid new poverty and leverage faster recovery from any social crisis."
Sen suggested giving food support to the poor communities to ensure food availability if the lockdown continued for a month or so and extend healthcare facilities to the essential workers engaged in the garment and other sectors through a partnership with non-government organisations.
The noted economist called for linking social protection services with the database of the national identification number so that they worked effectively and reduced leakages.
Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling, said the low-income people had been under pressure for a year as their income dropped.
"The sudden lockdown would again push them under pressure," he said.
It was unclear whether the poor would be able to abide by the decision, the economist said.
Raihan, a professor of the economics department at the University of Dhaka, said there was a lack of coordination among ministries about the sudden imposition of the lockdown.
"However, there is no alternative to lockdowns due to the higher infection rate."
Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said if the lockdown prolonged, the lower-income people would face a severe problem, and the poverty rate would accelerate.
"Various groups such as day labourers, rickshaw-pullers, hawkers, and street vendors will face the same problem," he said.
According to him, some people would be forced to go back to villages as they have no scope to survive by borrowing from others.
He assumes that the lockdown would continue until Eid-ul-Fitr if the infection rate did not come down immediately.
Moazzem urged the government to provide food at a cheaper rate and minimum cash support so that people could survive.
"The government should take emergency initiatives to tackle the situation using its previous experience."
Binayak Sen emphasised the need for investing in research and assessment on the evolving Covid-19 scenario, measures of public health initiatives and social protection programmes to find out the sources of weakness, errors and opportunity that would be helpful for an effective next plan.
"This is because Covid-19 is not disappearing any time soon, and we should be prepared for a long haul, including a possible third wave later."
The government should give priority to the public health sector in the next budget, he said.
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