Social safety net shrinks

Allocation for social safety net programmes (SSNPs) has gone down by two percentage points in the proposed budget, which according to an analyst is a reflection of financing challenge for the government.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday allocated Tk 22,750 crore for the programmes, which is 11.86 percent of projected total budget outlay.
The allocation for the SSNP was Tk 22,556 crore or 13.79 percent of the total budget in the outgoing year. In fiscal 2010-11, the government spent over 16 percent of the allocation under the programmes.
However, the government has strengthened its initiatives to avoid duplication and overlapping of SSNPs.
“In this connection, the citizen core data structure has been finalised. Steps have been taken to form national population register and database for the hardcore poor,” said the finance minister.
According to different surveys including those by World Bank and the UNDP, 16 percent beneficiaries under SSNPs are not targeted people.
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, an economist who works with different SSNPs, said this lower allocation in the proposed budget reflects the financing challenge of the government.
“It is less a strategic shift than a financing problem,” Rahman told The Daily Star.
He, however, observes that ensuring good governance under safety net programmes, such as 'One House, One Farm', remains a big challenge for the government.
Currently, the government runs around 90 programmes under SSNP, which remain unchanged in the proposed budget.
According to Advocacy for Social Challenge, a wing of Brac, 97 percent of the total allocation is usually spent for 30 programmes.
In the proposed budget, the government has allocated Tk 10 crore to rehabilitate 2,000 beggars in Mymensingh, Barisal, Dhaka and Jamalpur districts.
The number of beneficiaries under Maternity Allowance has been increased to 101,200 from 60,000, while for poor lactating mothers by 78,000 and Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) by 31 lakh.
Some other important programmes under SSNP are: Employment of Hardcore Poor, Rehabilitation of Hardcore Poor, Old Age allowance, Insolvent Freedom Fighters' allowance.