Social safety net expands

The government has slightly widened the social safety-net programmes in the next budget -- following introduction of universal pension scheme along with rise in allocation and coverage for some vulnerable groups.
Experts said considering the huge surge in prices of essential commodities, the safety net programmes need to be expanded more.
Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal on Thursday proposed to allocate a total of Tk 1,135.76 billion (1,13,576 crore) in the budget for the next fiscal year (FY), 2022-23, for social safety net programmes, which is 16.75 per cent of the total budget and 2.55 per cent of the GDP.
He said the government has decided to introduce a universal pension scheme from the next FY -- in line with the pledge made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2008.
According to the minister, around 85 per cent workforce of Bangladesh's labour market is employed in the informal sectors. As there is no institutional social security framework for the informal sectors and expatriate workers, there are chances of uncertainty of livelihood at their old age.
It is the high time to establish a universal pension system in Bangladesh, as at present the number of working people is much higher than the elderly population, he noted.
"Under various programmes for social protection of the elderly and the needy communities, our government is providing allowances to about 11.5 million beneficiaries."
"Bearing in mind the government's election pledge, a policy decision has been taken to enact the Universal Pension Management Act, 2022 to introduce a universal pension system to ensure a sustainable social safety net for the elderly and the needy people."
The law has already been drafted. After passing through all necessary formalities, it will be possible to present this important law to the parliament by 2022, the minister hoped.
Besides, the government is working to launch a national social insurance scheme in the country.
"There are (scopes of) unemployment insurance, maternity insurance, sickness insurance, and employment injury insurance. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has already taken steps to launch a pilot project of the employment injury scheme to protect the workers from (impact of) injury in the workplace".
Currently, the expected average life expectancy is 73 years, which will be 79.9 years in 2050 and 84.3 years in 2075, said the minister.
Presently, the dependency ratio is 7.7 per cent, which will rise to 24 per cent in 2050 and 48 per cent in 2075. The aging population will continue to grow due to the expected increase in average life expectancy.
The finance minister told the parliament that already, 29 per cent of households have been covered by the social safety net programmes, and budget allocations (in this regard) have increased almost eight-fold compared to the allocations made in the budget for FY 2008-09.
In FY 2021-22, allowances are being provided to 20,08,000 disabled persons at the monthly rate of Tk 750 each.

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