Our Correspondent :
District budget is a good tool to ensure local development, but it is yet to deliver its desired impact at the district level, observed discussants at a CPD dialogue on Tangail district budget.
The government should revise the methodology of formulating district budget and improve it according to demands of the local people, they observed.
The dialogue titled: “Next national budget and expectation of Tangail district” was organised at BURO Bangladesh Auditorium on Saturday.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD in his opening remarks said that this discussion at district level aims to convey demands of the local people and their reflections on district budget to policymakers. He expected that reflections from the grassroots level would also help CPD in generating ideas of how best the budget could be formulated.
Mr Towfiqul Islam Khan, Research Fellow, CPD presented the keynote paper which showed that Tangail excelled in reducing poverty in comparison to national average, however, extreme poverty level remained above high. As a district, Tangail mostly received budgetary allocation towards roads and communication while other areas remained relatively unattended.
Moderator of the dialogue, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD observed that Tangail’s socio-economic development is rather mixed which is mainly due to uneven development across different areas within the greater district. Policymakers must have close coordination with the district-level administration to drive effective development measures.
Dr Bhattacharya also observed that legal framework and function of the district council should be reviewed to ensure adequate implementation of the district budget. In order to do this, structure of the local government needs to be strengthened to mobilise local funds.
The need for a local government financing commission is essential to ensure quality of public expenditure, which would determine appropriate financial allocation according to local demand.
He added that the district budget needs clear outline for revenue generation from district level and the government should make sure that tax and VAT are duly being paid locally. The district budget should also particularly address environmental vulnerability, hard-to-reach areas, marginalised people and women and children.
The discussion, chaired by Educationist Professor Sekender Hayat, was addressed by Chief Guest Mr Fazlur Rahman Khan Faruk, Administrator, District Council, Tangail; Special Guest Professor Mirza Mohammad Abdul Momen, Former Chairman of Economics, Government Saadat College; and Guest of Honour Mr Anwarul Islam Khan, Former Ambassador.
District budget is a good tool to ensure local development, but it is yet to deliver its desired impact at the district level, observed discussants at a CPD dialogue on Tangail district budget.
The government should revise the methodology of formulating district budget and improve it according to demands of the local people, they observed.
The dialogue titled: “Next national budget and expectation of Tangail district” was organised at BURO Bangladesh Auditorium on Saturday.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, CPD in his opening remarks said that this discussion at district level aims to convey demands of the local people and their reflections on district budget to policymakers. He expected that reflections from the grassroots level would also help CPD in generating ideas of how best the budget could be formulated.
Mr Towfiqul Islam Khan, Research Fellow, CPD presented the keynote paper which showed that Tangail excelled in reducing poverty in comparison to national average, however, extreme poverty level remained above high. As a district, Tangail mostly received budgetary allocation towards roads and communication while other areas remained relatively unattended.
Moderator of the dialogue, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD observed that Tangail’s socio-economic development is rather mixed which is mainly due to uneven development across different areas within the greater district. Policymakers must have close coordination with the district-level administration to drive effective development measures.
Dr Bhattacharya also observed that legal framework and function of the district council should be reviewed to ensure adequate implementation of the district budget. In order to do this, structure of the local government needs to be strengthened to mobilise local funds.
The need for a local government financing commission is essential to ensure quality of public expenditure, which would determine appropriate financial allocation according to local demand.
He added that the district budget needs clear outline for revenue generation from district level and the government should make sure that tax and VAT are duly being paid locally. The district budget should also particularly address environmental vulnerability, hard-to-reach areas, marginalised people and women and children.
The discussion, chaired by Educationist Professor Sekender Hayat, was addressed by Chief Guest Mr Fazlur Rahman Khan Faruk, Administrator, District Council, Tangail; Special Guest Professor Mirza Mohammad Abdul Momen, Former Chairman of Economics, Government Saadat College; and Guest of Honour Mr Anwarul Islam Khan, Former Ambassador.
