Only one-fourth of the poorest population in the country received some forms of assistance under the government's major social safety net programmes (SSNPs) last year, according to a survey.
They survey revealed that shortage of assistance to the needy people was observed comparing to the actual demand, as a large portion of poor people - hit hard by the pandemic - were left uncovered.
Besides, the new poor, who lost jobs or income as an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, were not considered for any of the government assistance schemes, as the authorities concerned sorted out beneficiary lists from a decade-old database.
The findings of the survey were presented through a virtual dialogue - "Relief Supports to Cope with COVID-19: How Effective Were They?" - jointly organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Oxfam in Bangladesh in collaboration with Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh on Thursday.
CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya presided over the programme, where State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman spoke as the chief guest.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Capt (Retd) A B Tajul Islam spoke as the special guest, and member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Shameem Haider Patwary as the guest of honour.
Dhaka University Professor Dr M Abu Eusuf, Policy Advisor of a2i Programme Anir Chowdhury, Nagad Managing Director Tanvir A Mishuk, CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun, and Oxfam in Bangladesh's Country Director Dipankar Datta also spoke at the programme.
CPD Distinguished Fellow Professor Mustafizur Rahman presented the keynote paper titled "Effective Delivery of Social Protection in Bangladesh: Twelve Takeaways from Experiences in COVID Times".
Presenting the survey findings, Mr Rahman said a large number of the poorest quarter in the country did not get state support under the major three SSNPs-Tk 2,500 each to 5.0 million poor and vulnerable households, food (rice) distribution, and cash support under Gratuitous Relief (GR).
Besides, a disparity was seen in rural and urban areas among the destitute people who got upport. Only 18.9 per cent of the rural poor had received support from at least one of the three SSNPs, while the corresponding figure for urban areas was higher at 43.3 per cent, he said.
The survey revealed that the quantity of distributed food relief was about 50 per cent lower than the demand.
The CPD distinguished fellow also said a massive awareness campaign about the relief support hotlines should be launched to cover most of the actual needy people.
Besides, transportation costs and additional costs associated with receiving benefits should be taken care of, so that those do not create additional burden for low-income marginalised groups.
He opined that the concept of new poor should be discussed seriously, as a significant number of people saw income loss due to the pandemic, and these people were not enlisted for any support programme.
However, increased use of technology was observed in delivery of relief supports in recent times, which was quite effective in terms of transparency and accuracy, he added.
The state minister in his speech said relief distribution process in the country is now more transparent and fast due to use of technology.
"We have not received any complaints from the beneficiary's end, while no case of hunger was found throughout the pandemic."
However, there are still some problems in the database of poor people, as it needs an update. Information flow about relief and cash distribution process will become more available in coming days.
He further said the '333 helpline number', introduced by the ministry to assist the people, who are in need but are not covered by the safety net programmes, also got good response.
Dr Bhattacharya pointed out lack of the government and private initiatives to tackle second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, as fewer activities were observed in different assistance programmes then.
He said there should be a mechanism to measure the demand of relief goods and actual allocation against it. After the distribution, a strong monitoring system is required to make the process transparent.
Referring to use of age-old database of poor in the social safety net programmes in last one year, he said making the list of actual beneficiaries is very crucial to maximise the effects of different relief schemes.
Besides, mismatches in the beneficiary list and complaints from relief or cash recipients should also be addressed by the authorities concerned.
Dr Bhattacharya opined that in the upcoming assistance programmes or other social safety net schemes, the new poor, whose income was hit hard by the pandemic, should be sincerely considered.
Praising the government's move to distribute cash assistance through mobile financial services (MFSs), he said despite some allegations of fake beneficiaries, the use of MFSs in distributing Tk 2,500 each to 5.0 million people was a timely initiative to ensure transparency in assistance programmes.
The a2i policy advisor said there are scopes of doing better in targeting the actual poor in need for different social safety net programmes by using digital technology.
Giving instance of analysing phone use behaviour, in West African country Togo, to sort out beneficiaries for assistance programmes, Mr Chowdhury said the government has been in talk with a telecom operator to pilot such mechanism.
Opining that the government alone cannot ensure social safety in the country due to resource constraint, he called for popularising an app that would allow general people to donate for needy using different digital transaction platforms.
Mr Patwary suggested that relief distribution should be based on the poverty scenario of each district instead of population size.
He also focused on providing cash support to the poor, instead of rice, to save both time and expense of the SSNPs.
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