Sarbojonkotha proposes alternative action plan amid health and economic crisis

Politics, economics, and sociological journal Sarbojonkotha held a digital press conference today to propose an alternative action plan to the government to manage the ongoing public health and economic crisis.

During his speech, renowned economist and activist Prof Anu Muhammad outlined the recommendations, which includes a three-month aid programme for those with low-income and the unemployed, temporary housing solutions, and special measures for the healthcare and agriculture sectors.

In a Facebook Live video, Moshahida Sultana and Anu Muhammad read out the document that proposed the eight-point plan, categorised across six sectors and divided into short, medium, and long-terms.

The plans include: food and cash aid for the unemployed and low-income demographic, including housing facilities for the homeless and those living in unsustainable conditions and special steps for communities in the hills and Rohingya refugees; clearing the dues of industrial workers, halting lay-offs, and continuing holiday-wages; decentralising the healthcare system and building temporary treatment facilities across the country, with a recommendation for the army to take over this responsibility.

In this regard, it also asked the government to reform the healthcare system and free it off bureaucracy and corruption.

The proposal also asked for mitigating the unavailability of ambulances and turning unused vehicles into ambulances and ensuring protection of the agriculture sector, by buying directly from the farmers, among other things.

The journal also touched upon the importance of building more warehouses and cold storages.

In regards to information, the journal asked that free-flow of information be ensured and citizens' rights be protected.

It also asked that those articles of the Digital Security Act which the Editors' Council expressed concerns over be cancelled, adding the government must stop harassing whistleblowers and its critics.

For the longer-term solutions, the journal suggested: increasing the national production capacity; changing the fundamental philosophy underpinning the country's mega-project-based development rhetoric, i.e., that luxurious living and private indulgence are signs of development and cancelling ecologically harmful projects -- such as coal and nuclear plants -- freeing up more funds to the relief effort.

Additionally, the document asked for relief and healthcare initiatives to not discriminate based on VIP and VVIP treatment.