Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the average income of rural people and that of urban people have dropped by 62 percent and 75 percent respectively, said a survey conducted by the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).
Due to the lockdown imposed to stem the coronavirus spread, economic activities grind to a half putting livelihood of poor people at stake.
Around 3.70 crore new people have fallen into poverty after losing their jobs, whereas 3.3 crore people have long been poor. So around 7 crore people are in poverty altogether. Every month, Tk10,948 crore is needed to provide them with food aid and to meet their essential expenditures, said the survey report titled "Livelihoods, Coping, and Support during COVID-19 Crisis" revealed in a virtual seminar on Wednesday.
The survey had a sample size of 5,471 people consisting of extreme poor, poor, vulnerable non-poor, and non-poor -- evenly split between rural and urban areas. The research study came up with the findings by comparing and analysing the data of February and April.
As per the report, there is 20.5 per cent of the population officially recognised as poor. On the other hand, there is a group of 'new poor' representing an additional 22.9 per cent of the population, meaning around 43 percent of the population will live below the poverty line. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the income of extreme poor has declined by 73 percent, poor by 75 percent, vulnerable non-poor by 67 percent, and non-poor people by 65 percent.
The restaurant workers are the worst hit in this pandemic – their income has dropped by 99 percent. Scrap metal workers, who are the second in the list, have lost their income by 88 percent. Moreover, the income of rickshaw pullers has fallen by 84 percent, daily labourers and artistes by 83 percent, and gardeners and factory workers by 80 percent.
Besides, the income of skilled workers has dropped by 79 percent, agriculture workers by 75 percent, small businessmen by 73 percent, and the earnings of shops, saloons, parlours have fallen by 72 percent. In addition, garment workers have lost 49 percent of their income, farmers 44 percent, peon and security guards 43 percent, office employees 33 and cleaning staff 27 percent. As the income has dropped, people already reduced their food consumption to cope with the situation amid the pandemic.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Chairman Professor Dr Rehman Sobhan said the number of poor people is increasing as they have lost their income due to coronavirus pandemic – these people must be brought under protection.
To soften the impact of the pandemic, the government has announced stimulus packages; but the packages are largely being offered through the banking mechanism as subsidised loans, said Professor Sobhan. If the government wants to ensure people’s employment and resume economic activities, it has to take effective and transparent assistance projects, he said.
The people whose income has come down due to the pandemic have to be brought under social safety net programme and allocation for them has to be increased, said Sobhan. He added that the government has to ensure transparency and accountability when it comes to providing relief assistance to the affected people.
PPRC Executive Chairman Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said 3.3 crore poor people need Tk5,154 crore every month to maintain livelihood before things return to normalcy.
On the other hand, 3.7 crore newly poor need Tk5,796 crore to sustain through the pandemic, meaning the government has to spend Tk10,948 crore in assistance every month for these 7 crore people, said Hossain Zillur, adding that the assistance has to be maintained for at least three months.
Brac Bangladesh Executive Director Asif Saleh, Planning Commission Member Dr Shamsul Alam, and BIGD Executive Director Imran Matin spoke at the seminar.
