The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Social Welfare has stressed the need for selecting the beneficiaries of different social safety net programmes without political consideration to improve the living standards of the marginalised and underprivileged people.
The issue was discussed at the first meeting of the parliamentary body, held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, with committee chairman Md Shahjahan in the chair.
“We have discussed ensuring that genuine beneficiaries receive social safety services and that political considerations do not play a role,” the committee chief told reporters after the meeting.
He said the government wants to upgrade the living standards of the poor, marginalised and underprivileged people. “So, we discussed taking effective measures to make social safety services fruitful,” he said.
Shahjahan called upon the Ministry of Social Welfare and the standing committee to work together to improve the living standards of marginalised people, according to a press release.
During the meeting, a comprehensive report on the functions and activities of the Ministry of Social Welfare was presented before the committee.
Regarding the Family Card, the ministry informed the committee that a database of potential beneficiaries will be prepared and all people will gradually be brought under the programme.
The ministry said there is no political consideration in selecting Family Card beneficiaries. The committee recommended that the ministry maintain the same approach.
The ministry also informed the committee that the Family Card pilot programme has so far been implemented in 56 wards of 54 upazilas in 52 districts.
At the meeting, Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain said they want to work together for the development of the ministry with a universal approach to the welfare of all the people, rather than from a partisan perspective.
State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmin stressed the need for taking coordinated and timely initiatives, while committee member Jamaat lawmaker Md Mujibur Rahman called for involving local lawmakers in the ministry’s activities at the upazila level.
Other committee members Sarwar Jamal Nizam, Mohammad Salman Omer, Arifa Sultana and Nipun Roy Chowdhury attended the meeting.