Editorial Desk :
There are reports that Bangladesh has the fewest social protection initiatives in Asia Pacific region in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As weeks of lockdown has led to large scale unemployment of people from low income groups, the government should take immediate measures to mitigate the effects of job losses. Already, many people are reportedly going hungry after their sources of income have been lost. The government’s stimulus packages aimed at reducing the economic fallout of the crisis have not reached many of these vulnerable groups.
Economists of the Centre for Policy Dialogue at a virtual media briefing on Thursday said healthcare services must be ensured in fighting the pandemic, more investment be made in infrastructure for creating employment, and special measures are needed for those involved in small and medium enterprises and those in the export-oriented industries. We see a tendency to show inflated GDP growth. To the affected people, growth means nothing if it does not create employment and does not increase revenue collection. Many countries in the world have negative growth amid the
pandemic, but they have not much social fallouts. The government-declared cash support for the poor must be ensured so it reaches the target people. The disbursement of cash will boost the economy that is why more money should be poured into the scheme.
Against the backdrop of the lingering pandemic, the research organization suggested withdrawal of taxes on import of medical equipment and insisted on quick disbursement of incentives to frontline workers to motivate them. It termed the performance of the health sector as the worst and corruption in the usage of funds and purchases of equipment worrisome. It is necessary to reduce VAT on everyday products, which is a kind of injustice to the poor.
The government has been helping thieves to become millionaires. Never before so many corrupt ones accumulated so much wealth that they have expensive properties in rich countries to be able to live lavishly. Social protections for helpless people is unknown in our system of government. The people cannot change the system because the government does not need their vote to be the government. Very few NGOs care to provide socially useful services. Others are doing business with the government and unmindful of their purposive goals.
