Chancellor of Dhaka niversity Dr A A M S Arefin Siddique said the national budget was a government’s political document.
He also requested the involvement of the general masses in the implementation process.
Dr Arefin Siddique was speaking as chief guest at a review meeting on the “Proposed budget 2014-15: Food security and the protection of small and marginal farmers,” at the Dhaka University’s old Senate Bhavan.
The vice-chancellor appreciated the allocation in the current budget for education, which was higher than in the past . ” Investment in this sector leads to development in other sectors, automatically,” he said.
The meeting was organized jointly by a Dhaka University based research organization “Center on Budget and Policy” and Oxfam, an international NGO.
Professor Siddique appreciated the separate gender budget for 40 ministries and hoped it would continue in future. Professor Dr Tayubbur Rahman of the Department of Development Studies was in the chair while Dr Kazi Rafiqul Islam of the same department also spoke at the meeting. The director of the Center, Professor Dr Mohammad Abu Yousuf, presented a ‘budget index’ at the meeting.
Monisha Biswas, manager , policy advocacy, Oxfam, submitted a 13-point proposal for an effective budget according to the desires of marginal and poor farmers which should ensure equitable and effective distribution and establishment of a agriculture price commission.
