It is disheartening to know that the life and livelihood of more and more people have fallen below the poverty line due to the Covid-19 fallout. Despite this economic condition, there has been no special allocation for the ‘new poor’ in the proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, say some studies.
A recent survey report, jointly prepared by Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), revealed that the pandemic has made 2.5 crore new poor in the country. Another study report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said the poverty rate of the country was less than 20 per cent during the pre-pandemic period. That time, around 3.5 crore people lived below the poverty line. Now the new poor have enlarged the total size of the poverty-ridden population to around six crore.
It may be mentioned that Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed a Tk 603,681 crore national budget for the FY 2021-22 in Parliament on Thursday with a revenue collection target of Tk 330,000 crore. The overall budget deficit will be Tk 214,681 crore which is 6.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. At present, there are 123 social safety net programmes being implemented in Bangladesh. The budget proposes to expand these programmes with an allocation of Tk 103,000 crore. But the new poor people have not been considered for inclusion in the social safety net.
Several other studies conducted by government and non-government organisations have pointed to the pandemic-hit new poor in the country. The government now should create a scope to channel financial support to these affected people. The government has made an allocation of Tk 3,500 crore as old age allowance and Tk 1,200 crore as the allowances for the widowed, deserted and destitute women. Besides, two lakh freedom fighters (FFs) will receive Tk 20,000 as honorarium per month instead of Tk12,000 from the next fiscal. For this, the government will add more than Tk 2,000 crore to the allocation for the FFs honorarium.
We strongly feel that the government has a lot to learn from other countries to address the plight of those people who have become the “new poor” during pandemic. There must be an allocation for them in the budget before it is finally passed in Parliament.
