Call for a people-centric budget, care for marginalized ones

Speakers at the Dialogue on budget organised by actionaid Bangladesh in Dhaka on Tuesday.

GreenWatch Desk 

A Budget Advocacy Dialogue on Tuesday underlined the need for strengthening women's security and rights, securing quality education and skills training for employment of youths, allocations to energy and climate sectors to ensure sustainable development.

Speakers at the programme also called for democratizing  budget formulation by involving 60, 000 plus local government representatives working at union upazila levels and also by holding public hearings.

The dialogue organised by actionaid Bangladesh at CIRDAP auditorium made a thorough review of the budget exercise and noted that the government has prepared the upcoming budget on the basis of its election manifesto and has already started fulfilling some of those commitments. 

The dialogue brought together government representatives, civil society, youth leaders, researchers, and the media to reflect on key budget priorities and recommendations. It was moderated by Farah Kabir, actionaid Bangladesh country director. The 2026–27 national budget is scheduled to be presented at Parliament on 11 June next. 

Farmers, climate activists, workers, farmer community leaders hailing from climate vulnerable areas gave their perspectives on the budget and made specific recommendations for allocations to improve their lot.

Rexona Khatun of Syamnagar thana of Satkhira said they face difficulty in farming due to salinity which puts ressure on women. The people in the locality are suffering from malnutrition.

Nipa Aktar a woman farmer of riverine area of Patuakhali who works in the field said they face severe problem of fuel oil. Women farmers do not get government support that they need. 

Sakib Hasan, giving leadership in climate acton programme at Shyamnagar, Satkhira said in the absence of proper training they do not get jobs. Cancer is endemic but the hospitals in the area do not have cancer treatment facilities. Safe water is scarce.

Prof Nusrat said commitment to raise the education budget should be fast so that youths get jobs. Investment for betterment of women and girls should go up. 2026 election is a bad chapter for women as lower proportion of them contested or won, she added. 

Mukta Rani from Satkhira said women cannot access youth loans for many criteria requirements which should be eased. 

Zahirul Islam said that there is no seperate allocation for improvement of the lot of disabled persons. Invest to make them self-reliant. Steps for their welfare with dignity should be taken in digital platforms and other networks.

A development worker from Mongla-Bagerhat said they see water everywhere but do not have water to drink. Govt officials give tube wells which produce saline water. Intake of saline water leads to various diseases. Ponds should be dug and maintained to ensure safe drinking water. There is riverbank erosion. Rampal power plant has started affecting life, livelihood and health rivers and the Sundarbans Forest, he said.

Nayan who came from Savar said they don't see budget for workers although 7.5 crore people are labourers. There should be seperate head for workers in the budget. He underlined the need for skill development of workers and said safetynet programmes should include them.

Roknuzzaman Ratan said people have expectations but those remain unfulfilled. 

Sikandar Ali Minar of democratic budget movement said there are more than 60,000 reps of local government institutions all over country at upazila and union levels. If they not involved in budget formulation it cannot be democratic. There should be hearings on budget at local levels. Budget should be people’s demand based, he added.

Alauddin Shikdar, Kendriya Krishak Maitri who is also a farmer from Patuakhali said fertilizer crisis has affected production this season. Govt subsidizes chemical Fertilizer. It should make allocation to subsidize organic fertilizers that is helpful to reduce the impact salinity to some extent. Marketing of crops should be facilitated by organising markets at each union. Govt should buy paddy directly from farmers to benefit them. Polder embankments and sluice gates should be repaired to stock fresh water. Canal digging would be of help if property done, he said.

Momtaz Begum said unpaid work of women never come under the purview budget. Allocations for different sections of women should be up to remove discrimination.

Maruf Hossain, Marufa, Abu Tawhid and Nazmul Hasan made the keynote presentations on gender budget,  education allocations, climate and energy budget and recommendations. 

Gender budget started from four Ministries has now been institutionalized. Policy improved in respect of security and protection of women but its practical reflection is not seen in budget or its implementation. BNP's election manifesto makes strong commitment implementation some of which has started through the distribution of family, farmer and health cards.

Allocation to the education sector increased over time but last year it came down. Health allocation increased but did not cross one percent of the budget. ICT allocation doubled in 5 years but remained town-centred. Unemployment  rate is highest among the higher educated people reflecting a mismatch in education and employment avenues. The speakers were hopeful that a commitment has been made to create 1 crore jobs.

They called for strengthening women empowerment and stopping   cruelty and ensuring accountability. The National Adaptatiom Plan and the Environment Plan should  be taken to the people who live at the margins of climate change. 

One speaker said there is a lot of laws but violence doesn't come down. Targeted financing is very important for support to victims. Response should be organized. One percent increase in this budget reduces the problem by 8 percent. By stopping gender violence conomic and social losses can be overcome. Some specialized projects needed in gender area. Quality education, industry-academia collaboration should be facilitated for this. 

A senior officials of the Planning Division said that the budget has Ben formulated as per the election manifesto of the ruling party. Allocations to the development budget are are also on basis of the manifesto.

In ADB a multi-year investment programme is expected while there will be climate integration in all sectors. Steeps have taken to develop project implementation capacity.

Expansion of union health centers have been planned to strengthen health services. There will be a 5-year strategic plan in place of the 5-year plan. 

Under the budget efforts are bein, made to ensure income parity. 

One pillar of the budget is recovery of economy. 

A national policy on rooftop solar systems will be finalized in a month to utilise 70pc of rooftops to generate solar energy. Special allocation is being made for this. 

Ganga Barrage designed to address salinity in coastal areas. The Teesta Master Plan also covers various developmental aspects.

Environmental scientist Dr. Ahsanuddin Ahmed said 25 ministries are involved in climate budgeting. Allocations have risen 7 percent. Water Developmeny Board and LGED are the orgs involved in implementation of climate budget. But last 10 years experience shows desired results are not coming. Works should be properly done on time to get results. 

We see  rush in remittance income. This could be accelerated thru 

Dr. Sharmind of Jahangirnagar University said allocations in budget alone is not helpful. Wrok designs in some areas are defective and need to improve. 

Ruhul Amin of Renewable Energy assocition said equipment should be tax-free. 

Dr. Hossain of youth and sports said that the main emphasis is the implementation of the election manifesto. Freelancing and ICT are the main areas. Projects have been prepared. SME loans being streamlined. There is a revolving fund. The training centre's I'm 64 districts utilised to equip youths for suitable jobs. 

Dr. Parvez, Special Assistant to PM said as an elected government BNP wants to remain people-centric. BNP promotes civic nationalism where participation of all is being enlisted. 

The government is trying to give special incentive to renewable energy, and and in dealing with e-waste which has precious material. We are trying for carbon fetch credit and will introduce climate fellowships soon. The govt alone cannot do everything and it will do things in collaboration with all, he said. 

Farah Kabir who moderated the Dialogue said, we need a 5-year vision and participation of the people. People are marginalized and among them women are super marginalized. Investment has to be made to address this. E-commerce Freelancing employ many women and youths and should be among the priority areas, she said.

She hoped that the present govt would recover the confidence deficit that has been observed over the years, overcome and ensure freedom of democratic institutions. Young people want employment. Merit and competence should be the basis of extending them support, she added.