The government should put emphasize on regional planning and make specific allocation for each district in the national budget so that every area can be equally developed, planners and experts said.
They said this while speaking at a webinar conference on proposed national budget for fiscal year 2020-21 organised by Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) on Saturday.
They also said that district budget was needed highlighting on proper planning, efficiency, transparency, and crackdown on corruption in implementing the budgetary allocation.
General Secretary of BIP Dr Adil Mohammad Khan said, “The government is proposing budget per year. We hoped that there would be district Budget as it has been said to focus on decentralization for years. But we did not see any reflection on it.
This budget did not specify how much allocation will go for which area.”
“Area based allocation remains in dark in the budget. I want to say it is a secret component of the budget,” he said, adding, “Before corona crisis, the poverty rate of Rangpur area was nearly 70 percent. After the 50 years of independence, if we see this type of poverty in a certain area then it must be questioned that there is a huge gap in our development planning.”
He also said, “Health sector has got the top priority in the budget. Health is obviously important. At the same time, we cannot ignore agriculture, environment and education. The allocation in environment sector is relatively very low.”
“The vision of the government would be clear and transparent. Focus on a certain sector does not mean other sectors will reamin in dark,” he added.
Deputy Chief at Ministry of Planning Dr Md Taibur Rahman said, “We have no exact plan for decentralization. District budget can be a good way out. But if we cannot give focus on every district now, we must have budget for 21 greater district.”
"In India, we see there are separate budgets for separate areas. So they are going ahead equally,” said Taibur, the National Project Manager of UNDP at Bangladesh.
He also said, “There is a big gap of coordination. One sector does not know, what other sector is doing. We do plan, but the plan are not being implemented properly.”
BIP President Professor DR Akhter Mahmud said, “We need strategic and long term planning. Time has come to integrate 'planning' and 'public health framework' together.”
He said, “As health sector has got the highest priority this year, allocation of health budget should be transparent to public. Moreover, quarterly review of projects should be mandatory. Besides, monitoring should be top priority and also strict guidelines and governance is important.”
Additional Police super (development) of Bangladesh Police Dr Zaber Sadeque said, “Institutional capacity building of City Corporations or regional institutions is very important. The allocation depends on a specific factor in getting allocation.”
BRAC Chairman Dr Hossain Zullur Rahman, “GDP growth rate and revenue target are just ambitious. The allocation in health sector is increased slightly. Health benefits for all should be ensured.”
