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Economists urge government to present pro-poor budget
Amid the rising number of new poor in Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 pandemic, economists suggest the government should go for a pro-poor national budget that safeguards both their lives and livelihoods.
In line with that suggestion, they are urging the government to prioritize the social safety net, employment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the health, education and agriculture sectors in the upcoming budget.
They said the poor [particularly day labourers, hawkers, beggars, rootless people, security guards, maids, transport and restaurant workers and people affected by natural disasters] across Bangladesh have been facing emerging vulnerabilities escalating debt and declining savings one year into the pandemic.
Read Policy implementation needed for poverty eradication: Speakers
According to the report of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), the Covid-19 pandemic has caused 24.5 million new people to fall below the line of poverty between June 2020 and March 2021, and the debt burden has doubled for people living in both urban and rural areas. The majority of the new poor are to be found in the urban areas.
“There was a 4% rise in extreme poverty within the study sample. Despite some recovery, national estimate of ‘new poor’ in March 2021 stood at 14.7% which translates into a population of 24.5 million,” the survey titled One Year into the COVID-19 Crisis by PPRC and BIGD showed.
The data also showed that households are faced with a 2nd wave crisis with significantly depleted coping capacity - savings depleted by 24% and 11% in rural and urban respectively. Meanwhile the debt burden doubled during the period for most groups. It is worth remembering that income drop for the poor and vulnerable was above 70% immediately after the 1st wave in March- April, 2020 according to the report.
Also read: The shadow of coronavirus on Bangladesh’s poor
“One year from the crisis, 50% of the ‘new poor’ remain stuck in poverty. However, 8% of pre-COVID employed were still unemployed in March 2021. Around half were in their pre-covid occupation but 41% had to move to another occupation. The unemployment rate remains high for skilled labour, salaried jobs and housemaids,” it also said.
The data mentioned that 47% of the early migrants were non-poor before the pandemic and 57% of early migrants moved to other cities. On the other hand, one-third (61%) of late migrants were poor before the pandemic and majority (60%) of late migrants moved to villages.
There was a 98% rise in non-food expenditure burden between June 2020 and March 2021. Besides, significant rises in all items such as Rent – 46%, Health –81%, Transportation – 104% and Utility – 51%, were recorded in the recent survey.
Also read: Beggars passing days in increased hardship during lockdown
It also showed that three drivers of vulnerability during covid crisis- Uncertainty of preferred employment, Non-food expenditure burdens – 98% rise in urban areas and near-absence of social protection support – help from government – 9% to 2%, NGOs - 3% to 1%, employer – 1% to 0%, and local community – 5% to 2% - all declined in the period.
Executive Chairman of PPRC Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said although social protection is playing only a token role in Covid response it is a critical priority.
“Parallel to existing safety nets, there is urgent need for specific new and significant programs for urban poor and ‘new poor’ with effective targeting and leveraging technology,” he further added smart lockdown to avoid such a new income shock is both a health and an economic priority.”
Read COVID-19 shatters Bangladesh's dream of eradicating poverty
As a final policy message, the economist emphasized that to tackle women and ‘new poor’ caught in an emerging poverty trap due to vulnerability of the ‘meso-economy’ including CSME sector, a targeted and ‘big-push’ is necessary for which the study calls for an urgent national CSME recovery action plan.
Talking to UNB, the research director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Khandaker Golam Moazzem appreciated the government taking different programmes to assist the poor during the pandemic. Though, he criticized the distribution level.
"Someone takes assistance from the stimulus packages several times on the other hand someone is deprived of it. So, transparency should be ensured in the distribution level so that new poor get funds from the packages properly,” he added.
Read Nations must work together to reverse setbacks to poverty ...
The economist said there are a good number of Non Governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country who work with slum dwellers and rootless people. The government can take support from them to make an accurate list to provide funds in the right way. We need accountability to address it. So the government should work with them.
“The impact of the coronavirus won’t depart from the country in the next two years. Poor people should be provided enough assistance two times in a single year. So social safety net programmes should be prioritised more in the upcoming budget,” Moazzem said.
Moazzem added that the national budget for FY2021-22 is being prepared in the backdrop of a number of disquieting developments in the economy- weak performance of FY2020-21 budget implementation, the persistence of adverse impacts of the first wave of COVID-19, continuing stagnation in private investment, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, and failure of the external sector to pick-up. So, the upcoming budget will need to address these as also the medium-term fiscal reform issues with a view to making a recovery sustainable.
Read Poor people to get highest priority in next budget: Finance Minister.
Drought casts shadow over boro yield in Khulna
These days, farmers in Khulna district are a worried lot. Having grappled with drought and the unrelented heat wave for the past eight months, the farmers fear they may not be able to even recover the production cost of boro paddy this year.
Though the farmers are now looking towards the government for some financial help, there has been word from the authorities concerned on the situation so far. "We expected a good harvest, but inclement weather played spoilsport in harvesting this year," said a farmer.
Read Countrywide Boro paddy procurement begins
In fact, the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Khulna has set a target to produce 57,000 metric tonnes of boro paddy on 57,540 hectares of land this year, of which 21,000 hectares have been brought under the dry season rice cultivation in Dumuria upazila alone.
Already, many farmers have harvested their paddy and threshing work is on. Boro is the dry season irrigated rice crop planted between December and early February and harvested from April to June.
Also read: Govt to buy 11.50 lakh mts Boro rice
Govt upgrading ADP implementation capacity for growth acceleration
The government is taking a series of measures to enhance the implementation rate of Annual Development Programme (ADP) in an effort to overcome the lack of capability to use project funds and speed up the pace of development. Allocations for ADP in the budget have been increasing steadily over the years but challenges remain in implementing those. “That's why the government has taken an effective move to take the ADP implementation to a satisfactory level,” according to an official document.
Steps being mulled by the government include introduction of IBAIS++ digital platform for all ministries and bringing massive reform in the disbursement of funds. From the last 2019-20 fiscal, project directors have been given the authority to disburse all four installments of government funds.
The document said that these steps would help ensure the highest usage of project assistance besides playing an auxiliary role in resisting the misuse of funds in implementing projects.
It noted that one of the main sources of creating capital in public sector is ADP.
Also read: Ambitious ADP worth Tk 2.13trn on the cards
ADP Implementation Over The Years
The ADP implementation in 2013-14 fiscal was 91% against the revised budget of Tk 600 billion up from 86.6% in 2014-15 fiscal against the revised budget of Tk 750 billion.
In 2015-16 fiscal, the revised budget for ADP was Tk 910 crore but the implementation was 88.9% whereas in 2016-17 fiscal the revised budget was Tk 1,107 billion but the implementation was 76%.
In 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscals, the revised budgets for ADP were Tk 1,483.8 billion and Tk 1,670 billion while the implementation rates were 80.6% and 88.2% respectively.
Meanwhile, the preliminary allocations for ADP for 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscals were Tk 658.7 billion, Tk 803.1 billion, Tk 970 billion, Tk 1,107 billion, Tk 1,533..8 billion and Tk 1,730 billion.
This means considering the initial allocation for the ADP, the implementation will be much lower.
In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the ADP implementation rate was 80.18% amid the Covid-19 pandemic that stalled all works in the country for a long time as the government enforced months-long general holidays to curb the spread of the virus.
For the 2020-21 fiscal, the government had approved a Tk 2,051.45 billion ADP, but in March it was revised to Tk 1,976..43 billion.
The fight to save Dhaka's 'oxygen bank'
Suhrawardy Udyan is often described as Dhaka's oxygen bank due to a lush canopy of trees. But the historic park seems to be under threat, having already lost a major portion of its green cover to an ongoing redevelopment project.
While authorities claim the project was undertaken to beautify Suhrawardy Udyan, citizens and green activists say trees are being chopped to make way for concrete structures on the pretext of beautification of the park.
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works are jointly implementing the development project worth Tk 265.44 crore. The project kicked off on 1 January 2018, with June 2022 being the completion deadline.
Read Trees become victims of ‘personal feud’ in Magura
Under the project, the government will construct a 6.5km walkway and seven food courts on the premises of the park. National Development Engineers Ltd has won the contract to execute the project.
However, different environmental organisations and regular visitors to the park, including students of Dhaka University, have of late intensified their protest against what they claim is the destruction of the park that is home to a variety of birds and animals.
Game over: How an injured Mamata won against a fully fit saffron squad
If only veteran politician Shamim Osman knew that his famous 'Khela Hobe'(Game on!) speech would turn out to be one of the main slogans of Trinamool Congress in the recently concluded West Bengal elections, he surely would have made a patent for it.
Prashant Kishor, the political strategist considered as the brain behind TMC's landslide victory in the assembly election, explained the significance of the 'Khela Hobe' slogan several times while talking to the Indian media.
According to him, 'Khela hobe' delivered a message to the voters that TMC will fight till the very end.
"During elections, BJP created such a psychological fear that there is no chance for the other party. Amit Shah comes to Bengal and says that Didi(Mamata Banerjee) is done, she is all alone. This psychological pressure forces the opponents to give up. Hence the 'Game on' slogan. It means we will fight till the very end," he said in an interview with India Today back in March.
An intense matchup did take place, staggered out over eight legs, and Mamata played till the very end, with an injured left foot and won decisively against a fully fit BJP squad, led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah - who each held over 50 rallies in the state - and propped up by the likes of Yogi Adityanath.
BJP has a very clear strategy when it comes to winning elections.
They challenge an incumbent government, strengthen their local organisation by poaching politicians from the local parties and through party booth committees and the work of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), present Narendra Modi as the only leader committed to the state’s interests, promise a web of welfare schemes and push a very aggressive Hindu nationalist ideology in the state in a bid to polarise and consolidate the Hindu vote.
Despite doing it all in Bengal, the saffron camp failed to conquer their final frontier after locking horns with the charismatic Mamata Banerjee.
'Didi', as Banerjee is affectionately known, stood her ground against a BJP machine which had everything, money, muscle power, the media and some would say even the Election Commission.
Shah, the architect behind the BJP's electoral juggernaut witnessed since 2014, was constantly predicting the kind of overwhelming victory that in the end TMC pulled off.
The Trinamool Congress ended up winning 48% of the vote and 73% of seats, its best performance ever on both counts. Not bad for a party said to be suffering anti-incumbency!
In this piece, we will try to look at the some factors which contributed to the win.
Also read: Mamata Banerjee sworn in as Bengal CM
Bengali nationalism: From Didi to Banglar Meye
Any specific ideological core was more or less absent from Trinamool Congress since its inception. But they had to resort to something to combat BJP's Hindu nationalism.
Thus, they went for Bengali nationalism, which was probably the most obvious choice.
They portrayed themselves as local heroes up against bohiragotos(literally outsiders) and Borgis (Maratha raiders who led a destructive invasion of Bengal in the 18th century).
To take matters further, Mamata Banerjee, who was always known as Didi (Sister) and still is by the people of Bengal, was also rebranded as 'Banglar Meye' (Daughter of Bengal). During campaigning, Trinamool launched the slogan — “Bangla nijer meye ke chay (Bengal wants its own daughter)” as a part of this.
Talking to UNB, Papia Sen, professor of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said: "Although the rebranding of Mamata Banerjee was not the main reason behind TMC's success, it was certainly an effective tactic against the Hindutva stance of BJP."
According to Prof Sen, it "evoked Bengal's natural sentiments for their daughters and added a household touch" to Banerjee.
Women Voters
According to Papia Sen, the real vote bank for TMC is not Muslims or minorities, but rather women.
"Over the years, Mamata has undertaken a series of welfare policies which led to direct flow of cash into the hands of women. In return, the women of West Bengal have always remained loyal to her," she said.
TMC ensured regular cash transfers to girls if they do not get married and remain in school.
Papia Sen also said that she believes that the women of Bengal were emotionally moved when they saw their chief minister, a strong woman herself, was on the receiving end of "low-level bullying and taunting" by BJP leadership, including PM Narendra Modi.
Modi publicly taunted Mamata by saying “Didi O Didi" in a tone likened to louts and punks by Mahua Moitra, a TMC politician.
BJP’s West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh also offended traditional Bengali sensibilities when he commented on Mamata's hitched up saree (to accommodate the cast on her injured left foot), asking on national television why she can’t switch to sporting bermuda shorts instead of exposing her legs.
Also read: Bucking anti-incumbency, Mamata scores a hat-trick in Bengal
The taunting and bullying only moved more women votes towards TMC, according to experts including Papia Sen.
Muslim Vote
The so-called Muslim vote bank is always a huge factor in West Bengal as the Muslim share of the state's population is more than double the national average.
"TMC government funded minority institutions including madrasas and brought it to the mainstream. They have also provided scholarships to the Muslim and Dalit students. All these contributed in Muslims relying on the TMC government yet again," said Papia Sen.
"Besides the way BJP blamed TMC for pampering Muslims and pledged to change the status-quo once they come to power, forced Muslim voters across the state to perceive TMC as their only saviour. For this reason, Muslims who generally vote for Congress or Left, voted for TMC this year which played a major factor behind the election results."
"See, Murshidabad and Malda are strongholds of the Congress and Lefts, so generally the left alliance relied on the Muslim vote banks of these two districts. But when the poll results came, it was seen that TMC sweeped these two districts which means that the Muslims were undividedly united behind TMC this time around. This proved to be a huge game changer," added Papia Sen.
"Muslims were alarmed by BJP's promise of a communal citizenship test or National Register of Citizens and reflected it on the ballots," Papia remarked.
'No to BJP' campaign
A section of ‘civil society’ came out with a campaign called "No vote to BJP” at every corner of the state in an attempt to unite all voters against the party.
The activists, more or less consisting of people from Liberal Left backgrounds, were never huge fans of TMC or Mamata Banerjee in the first place.
But despite the 'No Vote to BJP' campaign not explicitly mentioning which party to vote for, it was perceived as a call on voters to unite behind TMC against a communal BJP. The defensive attitude of the Left-Congress Alliance against this campaign only made this perception stronger.
Even leaders of the recent farmer protests in Delhi came to West Bengal and participated in this campaign. The leaders of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha led by Rakesh Tikait and social activist Medha Patkar held rallies in Nandigram, Singur and Kolkata urging people not to vote for the BJP.
The prominent names of Bengal’s television and film industry including singer-songwriter Anupam Roy, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Anirban Bhattacharya and many more came up with a six-minute video song titled ‘Nijerder Motey, Nijeder Gaan’ with a message to the voters emphasising diversity and West Bengal's tradition of non-communal politics, setting it in contrast with BJP's unabashedly communal pitch.
Professor Sen has recognised the impact of this campaign behind the landslide victory of TMC.
"After 2011, the civil society distanced themselves from Mamata and TMC. But this time, the Civil Society and the Liberal Left were in a united front to stop BJP from coming to power at any cost," Papia Sen said.
Welfare schemes
The role of all the welfare schemes of TMC government behind their landslide victory has been getting inadequate attention.
Mamata's government has adopted a slew of welfare policies tackling every major aspect of life including food, shelter, education and health in Bengal, with some of the major ones started in the wake of the health and economic crisis due to the ongoing pandemic.
Also read: Will work together to overcome Covid crisis: Hasina to Mamata
She has schemes targeting women empowerment such as, Rupashree and Kanyashree that support them with grants for education and marriage, allowances for elderly people and social security measures for the struggling farmers and the unemployed youth.
According to Professor Sen, "The welfare schemes of Mamata Banerjee are one of the bigger factors if not the biggest driving votes to the Trinamool."
"As the BJP rose to prominence in the state threatening Mamata’s position since 2019, she has increased the magnitude and reach of her welfare schemes to galvanise the support of both the urban and rural poor, which constitutes most of the state’s voters. Delivering on these schemes, which have improved the lives of the poor and middle class have been very crucial behind TMC's success," she added.
Mamata for PM in 2024?
"Today Bengal saved India. This is not only a victory of the Bengali people, this is a victory of all India."
This is what Mamata Banerjee said in her immediate reaction after TMC's landslide victory.
According to many political experts this statement reflected her ambitions of becoming the face of the opposition in the 2024 central election.
The way Modi magic and the mighty 'Modi-Amit Shah' duo crumbled upon Mamata's charisma, it won't be a far fetched idea to consider Mamata Banerjee as an important figure in the upcoming 2024 national polls.
Besides, Congress's poor performance in Assam and falling behind DMK in Tamil Nadu and the Left in Kerala mean that Rahul Gandhi cannot be perceived as the main opposition leader at a national level.
Professor Sen said regarding this, "Although I am not sure whether she (Mamata) will be the main face of opposition in 2024, as it is related with many factors including a Congress buy-in, I am sure that she will play an instrumental role in uniting the opposition alliance against Modi."
"Moreover Mamata is a strong leader who unites people. So personally, I won't be surprised if she ends up being the main threat against the politics of division of BJP," Prof Sen said.
She also added that the strong image of Mamata can be effective against the Hindutva narrative of BJP as people can associate her with female goddesses, including Durga.
What the result means for Bangladesh
While many Bangladeshis expressed their emotions in social media or local tea stalls, celebrating the victory of Mamata Banerjee as their own, some didn’t shy away from identifying her as the main obstacle of the Teesta River treaty, something which holds great importance to the people of north Bengal in Bangladesh.
In short it can be said that there was a huge interest among the Bangladeshis regarding the West Bengal State Elections.
UNB talked with Tanvir Habib Jewel, Lecturer at the Department of International Relations at Bangladesh University of Professionals, on what the election result means for people across the border.
When asked about the future of Teesta treaty, he said, "TMC will continue leveraging the sentiment of the West Bengal people to deny Bangladesh the waters of Teesta. Besides considering the fact that the relationship between their State and Central government is at an all time low, I don't see the treaty happening in the near future."
Despite a grand reception of Modi in his recent Bangladesh visit, top BJP leadership have not stopped passing demeaning statements about Bangladeshi immigrants.
On April 13, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that Bangladeshis “infiltrate” into India because they don’t get food back home.
Further back on April 11, 2019, referring to illegal migrants from Bangladesh as “termites,” Shah said the BJP would throw them out after coming to power in nationwide elections that year.
So when asked about what would have happened if BJP won, Jewel said, "A BJP government in West Bengal would have increased the risk of communal violence in the state due to the party's aggressive Hindu Nationalist stance. The status quo would have created a precarious situation for Bangladesh as the communal tensions would definitely have a spillover effect across the borders."
"Besides the addition of the BJP government in Bengal along with Assam and Tripua would have surrounded Bangladesh with their ideologies. This would have encouraged the communal forces within our country and we have seen how violent they can turn out to be," he added.
Jewel also believes that BJP would have tried their very best to implement the controversial National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act, to "justify their stance on so called illegal immigrants."
"They have already deregistered two million people in Assam. Now of people were delisted in West Bengal there would have been major problems for Bangladesh as a large number of people had migrated to the neighbouring country after 1947 and 1971," he concluded.
Protect consumption, promote employment in next budget: Debapriya
Consumption protection and employment promotion should be the dual priorities of the upcoming national budget during the Covid-19 pandemic, said renowned economist and public policy analyst Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.
To this end, the government has to give direct and substantive fiscal support to the traditionally disadvantaged communities as well as to the “new poor”, he said in an interview with UNB about the national budget for fiscal year 2021-22.
Dr Debapriya said the new budget also needs to promote domestic market-oriented industrial diversification and introduce a universal social protection system.
He said the expansionary fiscal policy should focus not on maximising the public expenditures for health exigencies, but also put more disposable income in the hands of disadvantaged households and investable resources in the hands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Also read: Dhaka, Delhi need much stronger framework for future economic ties: Debapriya
The international noted economist said the new budget should neither increase tax rate nor apply new taxes, but should focus on improving efficiency of tax administration to prevent tax leakages and evasion, stop undue exemptions and definitely discontinue favouring black money launderers.
Core Budget with a longer time frame
Noting that one of the fundamental issues for the next budget will be dealing with the protracted impact of the Covid-19, Dr Debapriya said the last budget was done under the incorrect assumption that the pandemic would vanish within 3-4 months and then normalcy would be restored in the economy.
“At that time, we pointed out that even if health emergencies subside, socio-economic impact of pandemic will be felt much longer. Now 12 months later we’re in the midst of another Covid peak,” he said.
The basic point is that, under the circumstances, public expenditure choices and other fiscal decisions within one-year time-frame is not appropriate from policy perspectives, he added.
“So, a “core budget” focused on defeating the pandemic and recovering from the fall-outs demand a time policy frame of at least two-three years. This has to be aligned with the current Five Year Plan (2021-25), SDG delivery schedule and climate action commitments,” he said adding that a core budget is essential identifying major policy instruments which will ensure the reprioritised development outcomes.
Also read: Development community needs to support graduating LDC: Debapriya
“The development variable needs to be reprioritised from the point of view of employment retention and generation and no less important will be protection of consumption, otherwise poverty rate and inequality will increase further,” he said.
Favouring an expansionary fiscal policy, Dr Debapriya emphasised the need for accelerating public expenditures and improving supply of liquidity to boost domestic demand for goods and services.
Spending more is the challenge
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said the major challenge for the government is that even if it wants to enhance public expenditures, it is not being able to do so. One critically constraining factor is this regard is the stagnating (if not falling) tax-GDP ratio. Low utilisation of foreign aid is further increasing resource pressure.
However, the government’s inability to spend whatever money it has is due to low absorptive capacity of the public agencies, he said, adding that poor quality of public expenditures remains a major concern too. Streamlining the implementation of public expenditure portfolio will be an overriding priority for the next budget, mentioned Dr Debapriya.
Mentioning that there has been the marginal increase in the budget deficit (the deficit is now around 5 percent of GDP) over the last two-three years, he said, “In the financing of the budget deficit, we are using costlier domestic borrowing rather than international concessional funds. “And the utilised international funds are mostly less concessional, together resulting in increased debt burden”.
The public policy analyst said that the post-Covid mid-term recovery programme demands structural reforms to make the fiscal framework efficient and effective. “The recovery demands a high-energy fiscal multiplier effect.t. For that the government also not only has to spend more, but it will also have to give the money to those people who have greater propensity to consume and invest,” said the macro-economist.
Need larger direct fiscal transfer
“So, the very important part in the Covid recovery would be in the future to have much more targeted fiscal transfer along with food support for the traditionally marginalised communities as well as to the newly disadvantages households (the so-called new poor)” he said. He held that while the government announced programmes are in the right direction, they are miniscule in comparison to need and often implemented in a deficient way.
Dr Debapriya maintained that overwhelming portion of the disbursed pandemic-related public support (stimulus package) went to the big businesses, while a small portion to MSMEs, informal sector and other disadvantaged communities and activities.
It is obvious that these people will not be able to off-set the adverse fall-outs of the pandemic through monetary policy measures including the ones with interest rate subsidy. Thus, it calls for food support and direct cash transfer in larger volume through effective digital financial inclusion, he opined.
Use domestic demand to accelerate growth
Given the emerging global situation and our recent Covid-time experience, Bangladesh should boost its aggregate demand for GDP growth by aggressively stimulating domestic demand. “For example, we need to invest further in agro-based manufacturing, post-harvest mechanisation in agriculture, digital platform-based activities,” he said.
Also read: New conversation on int'l dev cooperation needed: Debapriya
“Since the international market will remain volatile in near future, we would need to urgently improve our domestic productive capacity to diversify our labour-intensive manufacturing base for inclusive growth,” said the economist. Upcoming budget should deploy fiscal measures to promote labour productivity across sectors.
Time for universal social protection
Dr Debapriya said the Covid has given us the lesson that Bangladesh needs to move from the safety net programme for the poor to universal social security for all citizens. “We need to move from mere expansion of social safety net programmes to a universal social protection scheme as majority of Bangladesh's population is without any public or private support system,” he added.
The recognised economist pointed out that the except the government employees, the poor who are under the social safety net and a small number of private service holders who have pension schemes, the overwhelming rest of the population are not under any public or private social insurance scheme. “So, it will be only opportune for this year’s national budget to initiate a universal social protection scheme for all citizens of Bangladesh.”
Dhaka’s overhead power cables finally to go underground
Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) has finally completed its design and plan to implement its proposed underground cabling project to make the city free from overhead power cables.Under the project, 190 kms of overhead electricity cables, an eyesore in the city, will be taken underground, DPDC officials said.Of these, about 115 kms are of 11 kV overhead lines, and 75 kms are 0.4 kV lines, they said adding that all kinds of overhead electric cables will go underground and no cable will remain visible in a particular part of Dhanmondi area that includes Satmasjid Road, Mirpur Road, City College and Greenherald School area.
Read No load shedding in DPDC area this summer: Bikash Dewan“Now, we’re hopeful of starting ground breaking the project by September-October this year,” Managing Director of the DPDC Bikash Dewan told UNB.“Already, some of the equipment reached the country and some are on the way,” he said adding that pole-mounted transformers will be replaced with box-type transformers under the project under the project.
Drought dashes dreams of litchi growers in Kushtia
The arrival of the luscious fruit is a silver lining every summer -- both for the connoisseurs as well as the cultivators of litchi in Bangladesh.
However, this litchi season could well turn out to be disappointing, at least for the fruit growers in Kushtia's Khoksha upazila because of something they had no control over -- high temperature and drought.
Read Sunflower cultivation in Khulna: Salinity no longer a barrier
A number of litchi farmers in the upazila's Gopgram, Satpakhia, Boroi Chara, Basoa, Daskahunia, Manikat villages told UNB that they had high hopes of a bumper crop this summer, a projection based on the healthy flowering of the fruit three-four months ago.
But the cultivators said that unfavourable weather had shattered their hopes. They claimed it would be really difficult for them to recover even the production cost this year.
Touhidur Rahman, the owner of a litchi farm in Gopgram, said, “A couple of years back, I brought around 20 bighas of land under litchi cultivation. Currently, there are 500 trees in my orchard. But high temperature and inadequate rains have prompted the damage of fruits."
Also read: Bumper litchi yield brings smiles to B’baria farmers amid virus worry
Last year, he pocketed Tk 3.5 lakh from the sales of litchi. "This year, I may not be able to even recover the production cost of Tk 20,000," the humble fruit grower said.
Harez Ali, another grower, said, “I have taken an orchard in Dashkahunia village on lease for Tk 1.80 lakh. At first, I spotted fruits on the 68 litchi trees in the farm. But the unfavourable weather led to cracks on fruits and their subsequent dropping from trees."
"I am staring at huge losses this year. The owner of the orchard is also reluctant to return the money," he added.
Read Farmers in Bishwanath happy with Boro yield
According to the District Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), 103 hectares of land were brought under litchi cultivation in Kushtia this year.
Sabuj Kumar Shaha of Khoksha Upazila Agriculture Office, said, “Unfavourable weather may hit a handful of litchi growers in some villages this year, but the production of the fruit in other parts of the upazila is likely to exceed the target set by the authorities concerned.”
Read Manirampur farmers making money by broccoli farming
A Bangladesh startup that aims at saving the world!
The year was 2018, when Mahbub Sumon decided to do his bit for the environment. Along with his three friends, this young climate activist from Bangladesh founded Shalbrikhkho, a Bangladeshi startup that aims at helping people reuse, reduce and recycle daily-use products.
Two of Mahbub's projects -- BONKAGOJ and plastic from potatoes (POLKA) -- have already caught the attention of thousands across social media platforms. Mahbub opened up about his work in an interview with UNB.
Q. What motivated you to work on renewable energy and eco-friendly alternatives?
While doing some basic research on the alternative power sector and renewable energy prospects, I figured out climate change as the biggest crisis for the human race.
For environmental sustainability, I soon started working on a couple of ideas like natural agriculture for cities and alternative sources of energy. Soon I focussed on developing eco-friendly alternatives to various plastic products.
I experimented with permaculture using BONKAGOJ and succeeded. The principle was -- since paper is made from trees, we can use that paper to grow a tree again. I also developed POLKA (plastics from potatoes) as an alternative to polyethene.
I am also experimenting with different innovative projects in the renewable energy sector and alternative eco-friendly lifestyle changes.
Read Jute: The Greenest Alternative to Plastic Bags
Q. What is BONKAGOJ?
BONKAGOJ, a biodegradable product, is made from recycled paper and embedded with different plant seeds. It's a handmade paper that can be used like any other ordinary paper. But after its use, if anyone puts the paper in a soggy pot, a flower garden will sprout from it within weeks.
Worldwide billions of trees are chopped down every year, many for producing paper. Single-use paper and paper products pollute cities. So, I harped on the idea of turning waste papers into a flower garden to save the environment.
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Amid lockdown, uncertainty looms over American higher education aspirants
As coronavirus cases continue to rise alarmingly from mid-March, the government imposed an apparently loose nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain its spread. Later a stricter lockdown was declared from April 14 to 21 and then April 22 to 28, and as a result, thousands of students who earned their admission and scholarship at different universities abroad, especially in the United States, are counting days in anxiety.
From April 5, the US embassy in Dhaka cancelled previously scheduled visa interviews and also stopped providing any new visa appointments for the near future, saying this would be the scenario until the lockdown and travel restrictions get lifted - and many students fear that they will lose funding opportunities and will ultimately have to cancel their admission to desired universities.
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As the lockdown got extended due to the ongoing massive spike in the daily infection and mortality rate related to COVID-19, and also considering the devastating scenario in India, the uncertainty rather increased among the visa aspirant students.
One of the top countries in the world for the quality education system, the United States contains most of the prolific and top-ranked universities which offer full scholarships, fellowships and fundings to the most meritorious students around the world. So, the visa aspirants have already proven themselves as scholars with higher degrees from top universities of the country and aspiring advanced research-based knowledge on the evolution of technology, health sectors, economics and other fields, only to face the same extreme frustration and anxiety regarding the visa dilemma - once again this year, after suffering in 2020.
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Statistics says that every year, more than 3,000 students from Bangladesh go to the United States of America which is considered as the hotspot of advanced education and cutting edge research, to study in different universities with honorary scholarships and fellowships. They compete against the graduates from the best and most advanced universities around the world and are playing a significant role in the advancement of science, arts and engineering.
Through the dedication and efforts of these talented students, the reputation of Bangladesh is spreading beyond the borders, and past honoraries with these higher study opportunities are already playing significant roles by utilizing their immense potentials for the further development and progress of Bangladesh.
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In American universities, students are usually admitted into three sessions each year - Spring (January), Summer (May) and Fall (July-August). While most students usually prefer the Fall semester, most of the Fall 2020 students were not able to join their scheduled sessions due to the non-availability of visa because of the pandemic.
The problem is, if a student fails to attend the university before the start of class, then the admission including scholarship offers will be cancelled - according to the university admission policy in America. Considering the situation, some lucky students were able to defer their admission to the Spring session and attend their universities in January 2021 and some were also able to hold their admission and scholarships for the Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 sessions, based on individual university policies.
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As a result, the visa demand for the Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 session was already more than regular, but unfortunately, the US embassy in Bangladesh has cancelled all the scheduled visa interviews starting from April 5, 2021, after the decision of lockdown was announced. Although the embassy has scheduled an emergency interview date on May 11, that is only for the immediate Summer aspirants while the visa schedule is urgent for the Fall aspirants as well.
Though emergency services, industries, banks, markets and inter-city public transport were allowed to continue operating upon following the government rules and law-enforcement regulations, the US embassy is not accepting any new applications and said that the resuming of the process depends on when the government instructs them based on the improvement of the current pandemic scenario - but when the neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and even China have given high priority to student visa, the US embassy in Bangladesh is yet to undertake any such specialized process.
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As there is no option of delaying the admission offers for the same person and the same reason in two consecutive years, all of the US higher education aspiring students are now on the verge of losing their hard-earned admission and prestigious scholarships, fellowships and assistantship offers. Many US universities are already acting reluctant to offer scholarships to Bangladeshi students.
Additionally, there is a possibility that students from other Asian and South Asian countries can override the achievement of Bangladeshi students in advanced studies and research sectors by grabbing the opportunity of their absence. If the situation continues, the reputation of Bangladesh in the advanced education and research sector will also be damaged alongside the personal loss of these students.
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Case Studies:
Jyotirmoy Saha, a student VISA aspirant who graduated from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) said, “I had my funding in Fall 2020. Due to this coronavirus pandemic, the university deferred me twice, first in Spring 2021, then Fall 2021. My fund is in PhD, and I can’t be enrolled in such a program with self-funding. My professor considered my situation, he was kind enough to me but for how long? If not in Fall 2021, I am going to lose it. This is a devastating situation for me right now.”
Another deferred candidate Roushney Fatima Mukti, shared: “I got accepted for a PhD program in the Medical University of South Carolina, with a Doctoral Fellowship and Dean’s Scholarship, for the Fall 2020 session. I was supposed to work on Cancer Biology with a large group of international researchers but I was the only one who couldn’t join the lab due to visa complications.”
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These stories depict the situation of thousands of students, and the same stories of anxiety and frustration will continue if proper steps are not being taken.
Assuming a student applies for five to six universities on average for every session, the whole admission procedure to a US university costs more than BDT 300,000 including application fee and score submission fee, standardized exam fees like GRE, TOEFL, and IELTS (costing BDT 17,000 each which remain valid only for a limited time). Apart from the aeroplane ticket, the SEVIS fee and VISA scheduling fee together cost around BDT 45,000.
Md Mohsin, a Dhaka University graduate shared his struggling story: “My family was never in a position to manage the expenses of the entire US admission process. So, every month I saved some amount from what I earned from private tutoring. In Fall-2020, after completing all the procedures, I managed full funding in a PhD program from a US university and also secured a visa interview slot.”
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“However, it got cancelled several times during May-June last year. My fund was given to another international student. I had to defer my admission to Fall-2021 with no guarantee for funding. With enormous frustrations, I decided to not apply anymore - but then, luckily, in Fall-2021, I got full funding from the same department. This year, the same scenario is snatching away my opportunity once again. Being already denied once and losing the job due to COVID-19, life has already become a bottomless pit.”
Similarly, the students who got admission to MIT, Stanford University and Harvard University, considered three of the elite educational institutions in the world, are now suffering this undeserving despair. As per the situation, several US universities have requested the US Department of State to consider taking online interviews due to the ongoing global pandemic.
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The general students expressed, “We understand the lockdown is important to stop the spread of the COVID-19. However, if the Bangladesh government doesn’t keep the US embassy student visa appointments out of the lockdown protocol - the present and future of thousands of brilliant students will end in smoke.”
Even before the lockdown, only very limited interview slots were available, and now it is totally closed. “Only the Bangladesh Government can save us from this situation. We seek the attention of the Honorable Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and the US Embassy in this matter.”
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With desperate measures, a delegation of the higher education aspiring students contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel to push the US Embassy for swift actions and although they were assured that the issue would be looked at, any meaningful actions are yet to be seen.
In these bizarre and unfortunate circumstances, only the concerned government departments and the US embassy need to take swift, well-thought, and collaborative steps that can save the dreams of all these talented young scholars, who are the future of the nation.
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