Tk 12,134cr Dfence Budget
Judicious expenditure emphasised
The defence budget expenditures, especially in procurements, should be transparent and efficient, as a huge amount of hard-earned public money is being allocated for the country's armed forces, speakers at a dialogue said yesterday.
The defence budget will have to be judicious, and since defence is a strategic issue of a country its budget should be discussed to such an extent it deserves, they said.
The government has allocated for armed forces Tk 12,134 crore for the fiscal year 2011-12, which is higher than the budget for the last fiscal (2010-11) by Tk 1, 216 crore.
The speakers said the concept and objectives of defence is changing day by day worldwide and stressed the need for rationalising the forces' objective and structure, and designing the forces with the state-of-the-art equipment and technologies.
Brac Business School of Brac University organised the dialogue on "Bangladesh Defence Budget" at the university in the city yesterday.
Dr Shamsul Alam, member of Planning Commission, said the country's defence still remains a "sacred cow" as the issues of the armed forces is not discussed openly, which should not happen in an independent country and in the era of free-flow of information.
"As our resources are limited and we have a great urge for development, the spending of the armed forces should be judicious."
The strategy of military expenditure should not be for conventional warfare; rather they should be prepared for addressing domestic disturbance, natural calamities, and other internal contingency issues.
BNP Standing Committee Member Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman termed the defence budget too inadequate, saying around 80 percent of the budget will be used for maintenance of the armed forces, their ration, and sometimes construction.
There will hardly be any money available for arming the forces, he said.
Brig Gen Mohammad Abdul Halim, director (budget) of Bangladesh Army, said there is nothing secret about the budget of the armed forces.
Of the total defence budget this year, Bangladesh Army takes about 52 percent, Air Force 13.52 percent, and Navy 11.5 percent, he said.
About 58 percent of the budget for army will be spent for pay and allowance, 17 percent for supply and service, 1.08 percent for maintenance, and .03 percent for welfare, he added.
AK Azad, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce Industries (FBCCI), said army is an independent force and it should be given the opportunity to function independently.
The politicians will have to have the commitment that the armed forces will not be used politically, he said.
As the leader in the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, Bangladesh army needs equipment of state-of-the-art as the demand for quality in peacekeeping force is increasing day by day, said Lt Gen (retd) Zahir.
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan said the defence budget has been well spent since the independence of the country, as the country has been well secured for the last 40 years. Even the internal insurgency was also well tackled, he added.
Everybody should know about defence budget, he said, adding, "We will not raise any such demand, which is not practiced anywhere of the world." In a democratic country there should be discussion about every institution as per requirement, he said.
Brac Executive Director Dr Mahbub Hossain moderated the dialogue.
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