Home ›› 06 Jun 2021 ›› World Biz
The fiscal incentives announced in the proposed budget are not sufficient for employment generation, Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said on Sunday.
The traditionally left behind groups and the new poor created by the pandemic will bear the brunt of unemployment, he said.
“No concrete measure targeting the employment of disengaged youth in the formal sector is reflected in the [proposed] budget,” according to the public policy analyst.
Debapriya, also convener of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, made the remarks at a virtual press briefing on “National Budget 2021-22: What is there for the disadvantaged people” hosted by the platform.
Health Services Division could not spend 75 per cent of the allocation of Annual Development Programme in 10 months of 2020-21 fiscal year while half of the allocation for Medical Education and Family Welfare Division remained unspent, he said.
He noted that several projects are yet to be implemented fully, including boosting oxygen supply to ICUs and health facilities at grassroots level.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, another distinguished fellow, CPD, and core group member, Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, said: “The philosophy of the budget is to reduce the inequality of income, consumption and wealth between the poor and the rich, but measures for bringing down inequality are not visible.”
The government should have widened the allocation for social safety net programmes, he suggested.
Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director, Campaign for Popular Education, said: "I don't see any budget for educational research. There has already been inequality in the education system but this inequality is more evident, especially for the disadvantaged people, who cannot buy a digital device.”
Advocate Sultana Kamal, core group member, Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, chaired the virtual event.
