Social Safety Net
We need to move from universal pension to universal social protection system
The universal pension would be out of reach of the extremely poor, such as day labourers, due to their inability to make contributions.
An uninspiring budget proposal
It fails to commit to reforms and address people’s sufferings
Social Safety Net: Share of the poor dwarfed by others
Under the FY24-25 social safety net programme of Bangladesh, the pension for retired government employees and savings scheme interest payments account for nearly the same allocation as social assistance for the poor, the old and the disaster-struck.
Don’t shrink social safety net even during austerity
No matter how tight the budget is, the social safety net sector has to be given its due importance.
Don't mislead the public with inflated social safety funds
30 percent of total social safety allocations going to the non-poor
Social safety net allocations inflated
Data by the finance ministry showed that the allocation for the pensions and interest payments account for 30 percent of the total social security programme fund of Tk 126,090 crore for the current fiscal year of 2023-24.
Social safety schemes must serve the vulnerable
Government must address issues with its effectiveness and distribution
Social safety net to get wider and better
A top official of the ministry said the government would increase the number of beneficiaries in two major schemes – the old age allowance and the allowance for widows, deserted, or destitute women.
High time the government got its priorities right
Low allocations for sectors that ensure people’s well-being, such as health, education, agriculture and social safety protection, is unacceptable
FY24 budget ignores fiscal policy as a tool for equitable growth
Any effort at halting inequality and reversing the trend has to start from a political commitment, an understanding of the factors at work, and adoption of necessary measures to attain the goals.
Are we overlooking the new poor?
Latest BIDS survey on poverty deserves appropriate policy attention
Ineligible beneficiaries eat up Tk 1,500 crore annually
The ineligible beneficiaries of the social safety net programme meant for elderlies and widows eat up around Tk 1,500 crore every year because of poor targeting and administrative weakness, according to the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Injured migrant workers deserve much better
Bangladesh authorities must expand services to help injured or ill returnee migrants
The vulnerable need food support
Why cut back on public food distribution programmes when they are needed the most?
Food distribution for poor: When more is needed, govt doing less
Scaling up public food distribution programmes for the poor and the vulnerable is the need of the hour -- given the cost of living crisis. But the government seems to be shying away from stepping up to this task.
Social safety net allocation to rise 5.5%
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today proposed increasing the allocation by 5.5 per cent year-on-year for social safety net programmes carried out by the government.
Govt to widen social safety net programme: Kamal
The government will broaden its social safety net programmes in the upcoming national budget to continue support to the country’s marginalised population, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said yesterday.
Budget 2022-23: Better targeted social safety net
The government is committed to using the long-overdue National Household Database (NHD) from the next fiscal year to better target the social safety net programmes, in a development that can infuse dynamism in the flat scheme.
Old age allowances grossly inadequate
Shamsul Huda, a beneficiary of the government’s social safety net programmes, lives in a rickety little tin- shack in Noboganga area under Paba upazila of Rajshahi.