Despite an increasing allocation of budgetary resources, on an annual basis, for anti-poverty programmes, persistence of extreme poverty still remains a major challenge. Drainage and misuse of public resources have been a worrying cause here. The government pumps in sizeable funds through different ministries on this score in addition to efforts by non-government organisations (NGOs). But, as the ground realities bear out, most such resources including cash and food transfers do not reach the target groups. In this context, it is not difficult to appreciate why a recently-held public hearing on vulnerable group development (VGD) at Thakurgaon has sought more transparency and accountability in selection of beneficiaries and distribution of food assistance under it. Pleadings were strongly made at the same hearing for increased participation of small and marginal farmers in social safety-net activities, related governance arrangements and policy-making process to help improve livelihoods and ensure food security of the extreme poor.
A well-thought-out national strategy for identifying beneficiaries and implementing agencies of the social protection programmes can go a long way towards dealing with the problems that have been highlighted at Thakurgaon in the country's western zone. Drainage can, in the process, be averted as far as possible while ensuring coordination. The existing social protection programmes are mostly rural-focused. But their coverage and resource allocation pattern call for a critical review. This is more so in a situation where a fragmented bureaucratic set-up, coupled with corruption and irregularities, takes its toll on the related programmes and schemes. About 2.0 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) are now spent on about 90 social protection programmes that are operated by 20 ministries. Though budgetary allocation for social safety net projects has gone up over the years, the outcome has not yet been up to the mark. The authorities need to find out the reasons behind this, in order to help achieve the desired level of success. Remedial steps brook no further delay.
It is now time for the government to prepare a database of nearly 27 per cent population living below the poverty line. Otherwise, no scheme or programme or project will yield any cost-effective outcome for making sustained progress possible in areas of poverty alleviation. Revenue collections in the form of wealth tax can, to cite here an example, be used to finance the social protection and safety net programmes. Mere expansion of the income tax network might not generate, at this stage, the much-needed revenues that are required for them. Proper targeting is an issue of pressing concern so that the real ultra-poor can effectively be brought under such programmes.
This country has to go a long way in ensuring the operation of a proper social protection system. It currently spends only Tk 156 for a person under the social safety net. This amount is too small to make a dent in the current poverty syndrome. Per capita spending on social safety arrangements has to be raised. This must be done, in tandem with unrelenting efforts for improving the quality and effectiveness of various programmes that are meant for poverty alleviation through public intervention. Proper monitoring, avoidance of overlapping in areas of entitlements and the inclusiveness of various intervention programmes are all interrelated issues here. They need to be addressed through a transparent and accountable system for operations of well-targeted social safety-net programmes.
Streamlining social safety-net programmes
FE Team | Published: December 22, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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