Social Safety Net
Cabinet okays work plans
The government aims to reduce extreme poverty rate, 31.5 percent at present, to 25 percent by 2013 and to 15 percent by 2021 by continuously and more effectively implementing poverty alleviation and social safety net programmes.
With this target, the cabinet yesterday approved some suggestions of the Central Monitoring Committee on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Net Programmes.
Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan placed a report, “Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Net Programmes”, at the cabinet meeting in Bangladesh Secretariat, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In 2010-11 fiscal year, the programmes' allocation was 14.85 percent of the budget. A total of 99 programmes were implemented, the report says.
Musharraf proposed a five-point recommendation to effectively implement the programmes to alleviate poverty.
The recommendations include formation of a comprehensive social safety network strategy, preparation of a database on the overall social safety net programmes and a list of the beneficiaries and increasing the implementing organisations' involvement.
It also comprises evaluation of the programmes after a certain period and expansion and implementation of school feeding and national nutrition programmes.
Briefing journalists, Musharraf said over 24.74 crore people were benefitting from the programmes and the number of beneficiaries crossed the total population as some people were getting benefits from more than one programme.
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