Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque :
A robust budget was presented by Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in the parliament on 2nd June 2016. Many termed it inordinately ambitious difficult to implement. However it mirrors policy statement of the government with many a programmes of economic development and poverty reduction. According to news reports: “The new budget is 15.5 percent larger than the current FY’s initial budget and 29 percent higher than the revised outlay. Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the budget on Thursday (June-02) afternoon – the third one from the incumbent government. The new budget is equivalent to 17.37 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP, which is Tk 19.61 trillion. The current FY budget represented 17.2 percent of the GDP. In the new budget, Tk 1.17 trillion has been earmarked for development expenditure, including Tk 1.11 trillion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP).Non-development expenditure has been set at Tk 2.16 trillion, 32 percent higher than the current FY’s figure. A large portion of the non-development budget will be spent on salaries, allowances and pension benefit of government employees. Foreign borrowing will also be repaid from the non-development budget. The finance minister has plans to collect Tk 2.43 trillion, or 71 percent of the budget amount, from the revenue sector. Of the figure, Tk 2.03 trillion will be raised through the National Board of Revenue. The highest amount of Tk 727.64 billion has been projected to come from Value Added Tax (VAT) – which is 35 percent higher than the current budget figure. A revenue collection target of Tk 642.62 billion was set from VAT in the initial budget for the current FY, but it was later downsized to Tk 539.13 billion in the revised budget. The minister expects Tk 719.4 billion from income tax and tax on profit, against Tk 649.71 billion in the current FY. Tk 224.5 billion will be raised from import duty, Tk 300.75 billion from supplementary duty, Tk 440 million from export duty, Tk 44.49 billion from excise, and Tk 14.28 billion from other taxes and duties. The initial budget for the 2015-16 FY set Tk 1.76 trillion revenue collection target, but it was cut down to Tk 1.5 trillion. The budget for the current FY was Tk 2.95 trillion and but it was later revised downward to Tk 2.65 trillion. The new budget sees a deficit of Tk 978.53 billion, which represents less than 5 percent of the GDP.”
The highlight of the budget among others is that it placed high priority for poverty reduction with a special programme like broadening safety net for the insolvent population. The amount of old age pension will increase from BDT 100 to BDT 500 with effect from July 2016. There will be 5 percent increase in the number of the beneficiaries supposed to get old age pension (about 3150000). Same benefit applies to insolvent widow, hijra and disables and badly off women victim of domestic violence. The number of beneficiaries in the respect will be BDT 1100000. Disability allowance on monthly basis will increase from BDT 100 to BDT 600. About 700000 disables will get these benefits. The backward ethnic communities including Bede will get BDT 500 month. (Prathom Alo 3.6.2016).
Besides, the number of beneficiaries under VGD will increase to BDT 1000000. Maternity allowance will be given to 500000 women. Other substantial benefits include among others: lactating programme for working women for their self-development including mental, physical and financial. 1800300 poor mother will be brought under this programme fold. Under neurological developmental disables protection the fund will increase to BDT 100,500000. The socioeconomic amelioration of workers in tea garden will cost enhanced amount (from BDT 10 crore to 15 crore). The amount humanitarian help for the patients like liver sirosis. paralysis from stroke and born heart patients will be from BDT 200000000 to BDT 300000000. There will be electronic governance for distributing all benefits under social safety net. (Prathom Alo 3.6.2016).
Poor deserves fair deal under social safety and protection policy intervention The state seeks poverty reduction through welfare strategies, social insurance, compensation programs, income maintenance, curative strategies and preventive measures. In capitalist democratic society welfare policy concept is taken to be a rational policy posture articulating broad humanitarian goals. However, there is every reason to believe that welfare policy, as a paradigm of social development of Great Britain and Scandinavian countries is difficult to implement in Bangladesh. Its implications are not clear in this country. In fact poverty remains persistent afflicting different types of low-income households in all-environmental settings. Impoverization is staggering despite increasing gross national product, capital-intensive industrialization, export production, and market-oriented growth. Discrimination in major sectors of development has downtrodden the mass of peasants, industrial laborers, workers, and other low-income groups.
Researchers point out that the gap between income and expenditure of the low-income group – a clear sign of income poverty – creates manifold social problems including violence and corruption. Poor salary structure of the fixed income group causes erosion of ethical values. The members of this group living in metropolitan cities and peri-urban communities have inadequate level of living, with poor health status, poor food, insanitary housing and poor amenities. On the otherhand, income of the wage labor, marginal peasants and the landless in rural areas is too meager to make both ends meet. The migrant labors drifting into towns for working in industrial, manufacturing sectors and those drawing small amount of money from rendering services in private sector and from various small trades suffer a lot as the most vulnerable. More, aggravation of unemployment situation in villages and towns is worsening poverty situation that creates the crisis of terrorism of the spoiled youth.
Distressingly low income group and the unemployed youth / girls having no income source are hard hit for tremendous rise in cost of living as well as for unprecedented inflationary any stress caused by extremely high salaries of the consultants and high level project personnel and corruption of the high-ups in bureaucratic contingents of administration. The situation such as this warrants a systematic policy analysis on the economy, society and poverty situation in Bangladesh.
The least developed countries (LDCs) can pin high hopes about the future of anti poverty social movement. For, the UN is determined to combat a worse poverty situation a threat to human dignity – by declaring International Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006). More heartening is the advocacy and campaign for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to curb poverty situation. Constitutional obligations, various international conference, UN poverty alleviation decade and MDGs mandate governments to promote improvement of the lower income group of population and sustainable development through resilient macro economics and different social indicators as the targets for social welfare programs. The state shaped the policy framework and this turned to the latest dimension of poverty alleviation policy in the name of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Of late,the planning and policymaking agencies of Bangladesh have adopted appropriate strategies for economic growth and poverty reduction. The target of social welfare is to be achieved through a comprehensive approach on the social indicators like adult literacy, enrollment, health, and population.
It is true that stable growth is absolutely impossible without poverty alleviation. Contemporary policy concerns about the magnitude of poverty emphasize increasing institutional attention to the alleviation of worst form of pauperization. Hardcore poverty (HCP) now posing a formidable threat to stability is the culmination of fuzzy governance and misdirected policy intervention. Policy strategies influenced by exogenous factors like globalization and SAP rather add to structural tension by reinforcing HCP.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Professor of Public Administration, Chittagong University)
