Short-changing the poor

A former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, at a recent press conference, revealed some disturbing facts about poor management of poverty alleviation programmes financed by the government. Funds allocated for the poor are being pilfered at different levels before those can reach the target groups, according to the official. 

Ambitious programmes to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh often do not deliver the desired results for lack of clear vision and absence of commitment that goes beyond rhetoric. Inefficiency at the administrative, technical and political levels are barriers to the implementation of such programmes. Numerous studies show that the persistence of poverty in Bangladesh originates less in the lack of resources than in poor governance. While we have become accustomed to such practices, it is abhorrent that the benefits of the programmes to help the poor are being hijacked by the very people whose job it is to deliver to them. 

The former central bank official also pointed out that there is no specific budgetary allocation for alleviating poverty of people living in chars or shoals—some of the poorest of the poor, while funds disbursed to unions do not reach them at all. 

Corruption is corroding poverty alleviation programmes from the inside. Furthermore, objectives and goals are not well defined, a fact that often makes such lofty programmes fail. The problem, however, goes far beyond the realm of management. A coalition should be built with all the stakeholders genuinely committed to eliminating those factors that stand in the way of serving the poor to address this issue.