Economists have suggested redesigning the social safety net programmes (SSNPs) considering the increased number of poor and their sufferings of various nature due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first step, they called upon the authorities concerned to generate a comprehensive and updated national database of beneficiaries, representing not just rural but urban poor.
They also emphasised on streamlining various types of SSNPs into fewer inclusive schemes to derive better results through ensuring improved coordination and implementation, instead of traditional approach.
The suggestions came at the Episode 4 of FE Dialogue on "Redefining Social Safety Net: Attuned to Economic Recovery", organised virtually by the Financial Express (FE) on Tuesday evening.
Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman, former Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr KAS Murshid, Research Director of South Asian Network for Economic Modelling (SANEM) Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha, and Managing Director & Lead Consultant of Innovision Consulting Private Ltd Md Rubaiyath Sarwar spoke as the panellists at the event.
Moderated by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun, the FE Editor Shah Husain Imam delivered the welcome speech.
Taking part in the discussion, Dr Murshid said that it is high time to review how relevant the traditional SSNPs are now for the destitutes who are hit hard by the pandemic.
"There are so many SSNPs in the country administered by different agencies and departments, making the process very complex for implementation as well as evaluation," he said.
He said that questions should be raised as to whether so many programmes are needed to ensure social safety because past experiences showed that many of these projects have brought no good result.
Few inclusive and representative SSNPs can cover beneficiaries across the country if the database can be made accurate, he suggested.
"We have been telling authorities concerned for creating a complete national database of people needing allocation under the safety net projects for last three decades, but don't know why it hasn't come to light yet," he added.
The former BIDS DG mentioned that a country like Cambodia has done this some 15 years ago and is updating the database every two to three years.
Besides suggesting increased allocation for the SME sector, he said that not just the workers of SMEs lost jobs and income, many owners of the small businesses have also become bankrupt.
If the country doesn't energise mid-level businesses, it would be really hard to recover from the pandemic-affected economic state, Mr Murshid added.
Dr Fahmida said the shock of the pandemic is fiercer for the people working in the informal sectors who constitute more than 85 per cent of total labour force.
But inadequate allocation for these groups of people was made in different support programmes.
Many research organisations have indicated that at least 15 to 25 million people may have fallen under the poverty line since the pandemic started in March last year. However, the government is yet to conduct any survey in this regard, she said.
"It is true that the allocation for SSNPs has increased but it is still low compared to the GDP size," she said, adding: "It is not possible to accelerate economic recovery leaving a large number of people out of the process."
In his speech, Dr Atiur said the government has allocated over Tk 1.0 trillion or 17 per cent of the national budget for FY 2021-22 for social safety, but it should be noted that at least one-fourth of this allocation will go for pension payment of the government officials.
The allocation for SSNPs has been growing but not in line with the GDP size, he said, urging the government to channel more fund to SSNPs, if necessary, through increasing the budget deficit. The budget deficit for FY 2021-22 stood at 6.1 per cent which can be increased by another 0.4 per cent because inflation is quite stable now, he added.
However, the former central bank governor said, providing only the cash support to poor people may not be a good idea for a longer period of time because social safety has to be transformed into social security.
He suggested creating small but temporary nature of work opportunities for the jobless day labourers in city corporations and municipalities on a regular basis under a new SSNP model.
Urban poor, who are least covered under the support programme, should be given emphasis through inclusion of their names in the national database which is yet to be completed, he said.
Considering the effect of the pandemic on the country's poverty scene, the state-run BIDS and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) should have already conducted surveys to detect and target new poor for remodeling a fresh set of assistance programmes, he said.
Dr Bidisha stressed the need for changing traditional SSNP strategy to accommodate the new reality of poverty. She suggested targeting first the people requiring support regardless of food, cash, employment, medical treatment. If the beneficiaries are not identified accurately, it wouldn't be possible to ensure transparency in SSNPs, she added.
She informed that only around 1.0 per cent of fund under the different SSNPs is allocated for urban poor, and said the government can identify urban poor through zone-based surveys with the help of NGOs and volunteers.
Besides, Dr Bidisha recommended gradual transformation of SSNPs into employment schemes.
She suggested financing cooperative-based small businesses in urban slums and poverty-stricken villages to create employment as well as entrepreneurial opportunities.
Referring to the overwhelming pressure on the health sector due to the pandemic, Mr Sarwar said health facilities have been busy treating the covid-19 patients, limiting the opportunities for patients of other diseases, especially non-communicable ones.
The people's inability to attain regular medical checkups for a longer period of time may significantly increase fatalities from non-communicable diseases, he said.
He added that the government should focus on providing regular medical treatment to at least the vulnerable communities under a special safety net scheme.
In the opening remark, the FE editor said that due to lack of necessary data, poor especially urban ones remain out of the lists of safety net programmes, but the problem can be solved through digital tracking.
He said the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has huge data of mobile phone users and their internet penetration, which can be analysed to detect the poor most section of the society.
Mr Imam also emphasised on giving special focus on women entrepreneurs and youth employment in the stimulus programmes as part of the economic recovery.
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