RANGPUR, Nov 22, 2013 (BSS) – Speakers at a regional views-
sharing meeting here have stressed for formulation of a time
befitting and more effective strategy to make the massive social
safety-net programmes successful in building a poverty-free
nation.
RDRS Bangladesh organised the meeting styled ‘Preparation of
National Social Safety-net Strategies’ with the assistance of the
General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission at
Pirganj upazila auditorium here on Thursday.
With Head of Programme Coordination of RDRS Bangladesh
Monjusree Saha in the chair, Pirganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer
Rafikul Haque attended the meeting as the chief guest.
Assistant Chief of the GED of Planning Commission Mahbuba
Begum, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Rashedul Islam and Upazila
Muktijoddha Commander Abdul Momin Akand, addressed as the special
guests.
Upazila Rural Development Officer Shahidul Islam, Women
Affairs Officer Nure Kawser Jahan, Officer-in-Charge of Pirganj
Thana ABM Zahedul Islam, Pirganj Press Club President Sarwar
Jahan, its Vice-president Moksed Ali Sarker and union chairman
Musa Ali Mandal, also spoke.
Assistant Chief of the GED of Planning Commission Shimul Sen
delivered the keynote presentation narrating the field level
achievements and loopholes of the massive social safety-net
programmes being implemented throughout the country.
Citing various field-level realities, the participants
suggested for redefining the criteria of hardcore poor and
involving the union ward members for preparing more accurate
lists of the abjectly poor people to bring all of them under the
safety-net programmes.
The extent of poverty has largely been reduced over the past
years and taken different patterns and shapes in various
geographical locations depending on vulnerability and risks of
natural disasters there, but not rooted out so far, they said.
They said infrastructural development activities under the
special employment generation programme have been facing some
loopholes in its implementation process beginning from selection
of the targeted people and lack of adequate supervision.
The speakers criticized the micro-credit programmes being
conducted by a section of NGOs saying that the poor are just
surviving but becoming poorer as they remain busy always to pay
the weekly parts of loans and abnormally high interests.
They suggested for crop diversifications, creating marketing
facilities of agro-produce, flourishing handloom, weaving and
cottage industries, animal husbandry for enhancing economic
activities of the poor.
They recommended for providing education and training to the
poor in the other trades rather than their only ability of farm
works, flourishing non-agriculture based industries and expanding
the successful projects of the GO and NGOs.
The chief guest said formulation of sustainable national
policy and strategy on social safety-net programmes would
definitely bring more transparency and effectiveness in the
implementation process to root out poverty at the earliest.
