'24-67 per cent grants being gobbled'

The Transparency Inter-national Bangladesh (TIB) said 24-67 per cent of the allowances meant for the differently able persons are being embezzled.
A TIB study said real persons with disabilities (PWDs) are deprived of getting the grant aid.
It was revealed during a virtual press conference by the anti-graft watchdog on Thursday.
"Local MPs and a section of officials and employees at the secretariat and district administrations lobby with social services offices to get Suborno card for their relatives and acquaintances even if they are not real PWDs," according to the study.
TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said there is a lack of regular surveillance in this sensitive sector.
"Corruption is also dominant," he added.
Farhana Rahman, programme manager of the research and policy wing at the TIB, presented the study.
The study said there are allegations against a section of union-level public representatives that they collect money illegally from the grant-aided Suborno scheme.
It is alleged that the PWDs sometimes do not receive expected services or benefits despite having Suborno cards and some mediation is required to get those services or benefits.
The study was done from December 2019 to November 2020 through interviews, group discussions, observations and the review of relevant documents and books.
Local representatives are responsible for the payment of disability allowance at field level.
There are allegations that a section of them has enlisted themselves into the beneficiary list by exchanging money illegally, according to the study.
The TIB said there are allegations of the use of political influence to get disability allowance cards.
Even NGOs have to bear the pressure of bribe money when releasing grants from the National Foundation for Development of the Disabled Persons, it added.
In the last three years, budgetary allocations for special expenditure sectors under social welfare ministry have increased, considering inflation and increasing numbers in the differently able community.
However, the increase is not sufficient when the demand is considered, the study stressed.
There is no specific budgetary allocation to conduct the activities of committees at different levels. As a result, regular meetings are not held, it read.
In social services department, 16 per cent of people registered with disabilities are not under the coverage of the disability allowance. Only Tk 20,000 every four months is allocated as office expenses for disability service and help centres, which is less than what is required, the study also found.
There has been a dearth of allocation to create access to employment for the disabled community and a lack of initiative to educate and teach them to become skilled manpower.
There is a lack of human resources for technical and specialised knowledge, such as occupational and speech therapists at disability help centres.
The TIB said the ministry's website lacks information on the committees, allocation for the differently able community, the number of beneficiaries and how to receive the allowances.
The audit is also not done properly. In regard to laws and regulations, the TIB urged reformation of laws and regulations in a realistic manner and their proper implementation.
In the national budget, separate allocations should be made under different ministries regarding disability, it suggested.
The budget of social welfare ministry should be boosted to meet the demand and also to increase institutional capacities, it observed.
Concerning transparency and accountability to prevent corruption, the TIB said the websites of all organisations concerned should become informative and should be under effective supervision.
The number of PWDs registered with the department concerned is 2,143,353 as of November 30 last year.

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