Family card programme: A good initiative tainted by graft

Corruption and partisanship have tainted the government's family card programme, depriving those who need it the most and benefiting ineligible ones.

This is according to TIB study findings unveiled yesterday.

The government was supposed to give these cards to one crore families, including 38.5 lakh ultra-poor ones enrolled in its "Tk 2,500 cash assistance" programme.

A survey carried out on a representative sample showed that about 40 percent of the cash-transfer beneficiaries did not get the family cards, mainly due to irregularities and corruption.

Under the family card programme, each household received a subsidy of around Tk 550 twice for essential goods during the last Ramadan when prices of these items soared.

Of those who were left out, 80.4 percent said they were excluded because of irregularities and corruption while 14.1 percent said they did not know the reason for exclusion, said the study report.

About half of the beneficiaries said they believed ineligible and politically influential people got enrolled for the family cards, it said.

The government through the cash assistance scheme provided Tk 2,500 each to families facing economic hardship amid the Covid pandemic.

The report mentioned that 4 percent of those who got the family cards said they faced irregularities and corruption during enrolment and distribution of the cards. The recipients were forced to pay Tk 50-200 as bribe or make irregular payments to get those.

Moreover, 13.7 percent beneficiaries faced irregularities and corruption while purchasing goods from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) trucks or dealers. In 33.3 percent cases, low-quality products were sold to them.

In some cases, the packets containing TCB goods were torn and the beneficiaries were given less (100-200 grams) than what they were supposed to get, the study pointed out.

Also, cardholders had to wait for 1.2 hour on average to get the desired goods under the programme, while the maximum waiting time was 10 hours. This disrupted the daily earnings of the poor beneficiaries, it added.

The TIB disclosed the findings of the report "Governance Challenges in TCB's Family Card Programme" at a virtual press conference yesterday.

Data for the study was collected in April-June this year whereas a survey was carried out from April 18 to 26 in 35 districts.

Addressing the press meet, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said the government initiative was "timely, important, and praiseworthy" which targeted 25-30 percent of the country's population considered to be underprivileged and poverty-ridden.

However, in reality, the targeted population in many cases didn't get the maximum benefit of the programme due to insufficient capacity, and a lack of transparency, accountability, preparedness and guidelines for related institutions, he said.

Due to irregularities, corruption and political influence, a significant number of real beneficiaries could not be included in the family card programme or didn't get the cards, he noted.

Enrolment of beneficiaries and distribution of cards should be free from political consideration and influence of local politicians and administration in the future, he said.

Besides, the TCB doesn't have the capacity to sell products to such a large number of people (one crore families) across the country.

Despite having obtained the cards, 7.5 percent beneficiaries could not afford the TCB goods.

According to the respondents who didn't get the family cards, the main reasons for exclusion were a lack of transparency or publicity of the enlistment process, enrolment of people for political reasons, issuanceof multiple cards to the same family and refusal to pay bribes, the report adds.

Most of the allegations of irregularities and corruption were made against local public representatives as they were involved in enrolment and distribution of the cards. Influential people, politicians, and government officials were also involved in irregularities and corruption, the report mentioned.

It further said 4.7 percent beneficiaries received family cards from persons other than designated committee members though the rules prohibit it.

Besides, 89.9 percent beneficiaries, who were victims of irregularities, did not or could not file complaints.

In the report, the TIB recommended that once the designated committees prepare initial lists of beneficiaries, those should be finalised, taking into account the opinions of the poor and marginalised people.

Also, the demand and capabilities of beneficiaries should be assessed to determine the type, quantity and price of goods in the TCB packages, it said.

To ensure transparency and accountability, information on product type and quantity as well as the package price should be displayed at the point of sale, it added.

In addition to package-based goods, essential items should be sold in small quantities according to the needs and ability of the poor people who cannot afford the existing packages.

At present, the TCB is offering two packages -- one with three products priced at Tk 460 and the other with four products for Tk 560. A cardholder has to buy all the products in either of the two packages.