Provide employment instead of allowance

Allocation for persons with disabilities is insufficient and inappropriate in the national budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, Jatiya Protibondhi Forum said yesterday.

The non-government organisation -- working for the rights of disabled individuals -- demanded that the government, in the budget, should focus on ensuring their employment instead of only providing them allowance.

The forum placed the demand while providing its post-budget reaction at a press conference held at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

Selina Akter, secretary general of the organisation, said the government allocated a small amount of money for disabled persons in the budget and most of it will be spent through social safety net programmes.

“The finance minister talked to many people before preparing the budget, but he didn’t sit with us. As a result, the traditional practice continued in the budget,” Selina said at the press conference.

Such dependency on social safety net programmes and allowances will hinder the productivity of the disabled people, she added.

Selina also urged the government to ensure institutional education for children with disabilities to bring them into the mainstream.

Protibondhi Forum’s President Saidul Haque, Senior Vice-President Anzamul Alam Munir and Vice-President Dilip Kumar Ghosh also spoke at the event.