Phase-II job scheme for rural poor starts rolling

FE Team | Published: March 13, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

S M Jahangir
The government has finally started implementing the second phase of Tk 6.0-billion Employment Generation Programme for Hardcore Poor (EGPHP) by its local administrations, despite strong opposition from elected Union Parishad representatives.
The authorities had earlier decided to implement the 40-day EGPHP scheme in all 64 districts of the country, dropping the elected Union Parishad (UP) members from the executing committees thus ostensibly denying the latter any scope to prove their efficiency ahead of the upcoming UP elections.
"The government decided to implement the second phase of the EGPHP under its administrative framework instead of the elected UP members, as was practised previously," said a senior government official close to the scheme.
Such a decision has been made mainly because there remains a possibility of 'misuse' of project funds for the purpose of elec -tion campaign by the UP representatives.
Earlier, a writ petition filed by the UP representatives with the High Court against the government move was rejected, said the official.
Among others, the government has also raised the daily wages to the beneficiaries to Tk 120 from Tk 100 previously and also the working days to six in a week from five under the scheme, said officials.
They also said the reason for increasing the working days to 40 was mainly because of the delay in launching the scheme following legal disputes over the project execution process.
Earlier, the government implemented the first phase of the EGPHP involving more than Tk 1.77 billion under the current fiscal, they mentioned.
Under the EGPHP, the government has earmarked a total of Tk 11.76 billion in the budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009-10, an official said, adding that Tk 1.0 billion has been spent for the rehabilitation of the Aila victims.
The government had initiated the EGPHP with an objective to create job opportunities across the country. The scheme also aimed at ensuring food security to the hardcore poor and widen the government's social safety-net programmes.
The EGHP, a new version of the controversial 100-day job creation scheme introduced by the last caretaker government, has been taken up for creation of 4.9 million man-months in the current fiscal year.
The government had modified the project execution policies against the backdrop of the alleged irregularities and controversies with regard to the 100-day job creation scheme, which was initiated under the past caretaker government.
According to sources, a total of Tk 20 billion was allocated for the previous 100-day job programme, out of which Tk 12 billion was sanctioned in the first phase.
And about Tk 9.15 billion out of the sanctioned amount was disbursed under the programme, they mentioned, adding the unutilised fund was returned to the government.
Despite this performance, the present government in its budget for the fiscal year 2009-10 has introduced the EGPHP replacing the earlier 100-day job creation scheme following demands of various quarters, including economists, social activists and non-governmental organisations.