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Social safety net, health, education sectors must get priority

Published : Tuesday, 1 June, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 832

Social safety net, health, education sectors must get priority

Social safety net, health, education sectors must get priority

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the country nearly three crore people has joined the league with existing poor as many lost their livelihoods. In addition, vulnerable groups and marginalized people are facing difficulties. Health sector is struggling to cope with the ongoing crisis and education sector is also facing stalemate. Under these dire circumstances, the upcoming budget needs to prioritize budget allocation on the base of the most necessity. Therefore, the health, education and social safety net sectors should be on top of the priority list in the next national budget in order to protect the people and revive the economy from the prolonged coronavirus pandemic.

However, the government allocated only 8.60 per cent for the health sector in the 2020 -21 Fiscal Year (FY). Because of limited allocation, the vulnerable state of the health sector has been exposed. The allocation for the education sector is also not satisfactory. While a large number of students, especially in rural areas, could not access online classes, government authority did not take enough practical measures to ensure unimpeded continuation of their education.

Undeniably, the C-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on government's poverty elevation programmes. 42 per cent of the people are living below the poverty line in the country, which was 21.6 per cent in the pre-pandemic years. Hence, the government has to gear up activities to pull the poor above the poverty line. Unfortunately, there is no significant programme for the 'new poor' groups in the ongoing FY. We hope government will focus the 'new poor' segment in the upcoming budget.

The condition of social safety net is also disappointing. More than 70 per cent of the needy elderly people do not receive any kind of financial support from the government. The proposal of providing Tk 3,000 per month to the elderly, aged 90 and above is yet to be implemented. The monthly allowance for widows and destitute women and financially insolvent disabled people are also low.

Due to the pandemic, these vulnerable people are facing challenges to exist. Therefore, social safety net programmes should be focused. Since many people living below the poverty line in the cities, it is imperative to expand the sphere of social safety net to the urban poor.

Evidently, many European countries are recovering from the impacts of Covid-19 with the assistance of government-sponsored stimulus packages. Increasing allocation for the social safety net, health and education is important, but not enough funds are there to recover from the damages incurred in the long run. The government should increase the allocation for stimulus packages. Moreover allocations must be planned in a way that generates jobs opportunities. Most importantly, ensuring transparency in government spending is a must.






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