The government expects the slums to be completely wiped out in next ten years in line with its Vision 2021, senior secretary of the Finance Ministry Hedayetullah Al Mamoon said at a pre-budget consultation with children.
“The government has a plan to make the entire country slum-free in next 10 years under the Vision 2021,” he said this on Thursday while speaking at a pre-budget consultation with children at the ministry conference room at Bangladesh Secretariat.
He added: “We (government) want to change the socio-economic condition of all people including the children within the next 10 years and our annual national budgets are formulated keeping that view in mind,” Mamoon said.
Finance ministry organised the pre-budget consultation in collaboration with Save the children ahead of the national budget of 2017-18 fiscal scheduled to be unveiled on June 1.
Mamoon said the past seven years witnessed gradual elevation of about 2 crore poor people to middle-class one while all development initiatives were eventually linked to children as the government was making all investments for human development to pave ways for all to have access to education, healthcare and a decent income.
He said the government was contemplating a special allocation for children’s welfare in the national budget as a notion of child budget was gaining a momentum across the world.
“In Bangladesh, children comprise 39.7 per cent of the population, so human development can only be achieved if proper attention is given to children,” said the secretary, adding the constitution of Bangladesh guaranteed basic human rights of all citizens including children.
Joint secretary of the ministry M Habibur Rahman said as the key policy document of the government, the budget reveals how much money the government intends to raise, from whom, and how that money will be spent in different sectors. “The budget can be an important instrument for advancing the survival, protection and development of children,” he said.
Representatives from UNICEF, officials from save the children, ministry high officials and children from different areas in the capital, among others, were present.
