The budgetary allocations under safely managed sanitation, environment and capacity-building have shown a surprising decline in the WASH allocation under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, experts said on Tuesday. They raised concern that this decline will slow down the country’s effort to achieve SDGs targets by 2030, according to a press release issued by WaterAid Bangladesh. Speaker made the remarks during a joint press conference held by WaterAid along with, PPRC, FANSA-BD, FSM Network, Bangladesh Water Integrity Network (BaWin), Sanitation and Water for All, End Water Poverty, MHM Platform, UNICEF and WASH Alliance International at the city’s National Press Club. Also Read: BIDS economist opposes budget proposal to whiten black money An analysis by the Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC), in collaboration with WaterAid, found that the WASH ADP allocation increased by 5.44% compared to an overall ADP increase of 7.5%. The total WASH Budget in the ADP budget in the proposed budget is Tk 118.2 billion of Tk 2460.66 billion of ADP allocation.  They have stressed proper attention in selecting ADP projects and the need to reduce the WASH allocation gap across rural and hard-to-reach areas in the proposed budget. The current budget also fell short in addressing emerging challenges in the remote areas of marginalized communities, they said. They said the budget finds an upward trend in allocation in haor and hilly regions and this trend should be followed in coastal and char lands to ensure no one is left behind. Besides, there is a slightly increased allocation to hygiene seen as a positive step, but implementing it through the ministry of health alone will not portray the required results for the entire country. A multi-agency holistic policy approach should be adopted as a priority, reads the release. The speakers recommended bringing more consistency to the spatial allocation of WASH ADP as the decline in FSM allocation will hinder the aim to increase sanitation coverage across the country. A further suggestion was made to review the proposed budget and examine this issue more closely and ensure increased FSM allocation to address the emerging WASH challenges, said the speakers.

The annual development programme (ADP) for 2021-22 fiscal will prioritise the transport, education, health and agriculture sectors, with a view to off-setting the adverse impacts of the coronavirus crisis that have weighed on the economy since March last year. According to the Planning Commission and Planning Ministry sources, the size of the ADP in the upcoming budget is likely to be in the range of Tk 2130 billion- just over a third of what is shaping up to be a Tk 6 trillion finance bill. Of the total ADP, some Tk 1500 billion, or Tk 1.5 trillion, would come from local sources while the remaining Tk 630 billion is expected to come from foreign sources. Some adjustments in the size and source may come when the National Economic Council (NEC) approves the final ADP for the next fiscal. The number of projects to be included in the ADP for 2021-22 is around 1900, including 1480 investment projects. For the 2020-21 fiscal, which expires on June 30,  the government is working with an ADP of  Tk 2051.45 billion, giving the highest priority to the transport sector. Also read: ADP for new fiscal year likely to be cleared Tuesday with tough challenges ahead Of the original ADP, Tk 1346.43 billion was slated to come from local sources while Tk 705.02 billion from the foreign sources. The number of projects in the ADP was 1584 to start with,  including 1456 investment projects, 127 technical assistant projects, and one project from the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund (JDCF). Besides, there were 89 projects of the autonomous bodies and corporations. But the National Economic Council (NEC) in March approved  a revised ADP of Tk 1976.43 billion, downsizing it by some Tk 75 billion.. The entire reduction was down to a cut in the foreign funding, which came down to Tk 630 billion from Tk 705 billion.  

The progress rate of the Ministry of Land in the implementation of ADP is 14.64 percent, which is 1.85 points higher than the national progress rate of 12.79 percent.

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid has expressed indignation at the below par performance of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) as the state-owned body failed to make satisfactory progress in implementing some top priority projects.