The budget has not proposed any direct cash support to revive the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) sector, where millions of workers lost jobs, though the government proposed some short tax-relief measures. Rather, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal emphasised proper implementation of the previous stimulus packages of more than Tk 1.24 lakh crore for them.
Money is not a problem, and the government too intends to support the poor in their dire need. What's the problem then? The government does not know who to help out! According to local thinktanks, number of the poor leapt from 35 lakh to well over 6.5 crore during the 16 months into coronavirus pandemic. From middleclass to lower middleclass, lower middleclass to poor, and
Poverty steadily reduced for 30 years until 2019. Then came the pandemic. Achievements made in three decades have almost been wiped out in just one year and three months after the first cases of Covid-19 were detected in Bangladesh in March 2020. Different organisations working on poverty alleviation and economists have repeatedly demanded wider social safety net programmes
National Social Security Strategy
Selection ‘errors’ are a major obstacle in the effectiveness of social security programmes
Two elderly women wait in a queue to collect the state’s allowance for the elderly in Charghat upazila of Rajshahi. Photo: Anisur Rahman/ Star
It is now well-recognised at national and international levels that a comprehensive social security system is imperative for addressing the problems and challenges of poverty and marginalisation. The commitment of the Government of Bangladesh to reducing poverty, improving human development, and diminishing inequality is clearly expressed through its National Social Security Strategy (NSSS). The vision of a poverty-free Bangladesh is reflected in the Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-2021 and the Seventh Five Year Plan 2015-20. Nevertheless, over the decades, it has become evident that due to the weaknesses in implementation of social security programmes (SSPs), the targeted people are deprived of the expected