TIB: Govt Incentives Lack Guarantee to Reach All

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said the government has announced incentives that have no guarantee of reaching the people affected by Covid-19 from all classes and occupations.

The civil society organization, committed to combating corruption, said this via a virtual press conference on Monday, in a research paper titled "Governance Challenges in Tackling Coronavirus."

The report said the right individuals received relief half or less in proportion to their demand in 90 per cent of areas, while relief materials were distributed at the same proportion of demand in 82 per cent of areas.

People in 6.7 per cent of areas received almost no relief, it said.

Referring to a Brac survey, the report said that only 14 per cent of people in the lower-income groups received relief.

There were allegations, it said, 82% of beneficiaries were listed for receiving relief due to political consideration.

Besides, the study found there were 100% irregularities in the disbursement of direct cash (Tk2,500) to the poor hit hard by the Covid-19 lockdown.

In the wake of Covid-19 outbreak in Bangladesh, the government declared 19 stimulus packages of Tk103,117 crore (3.3% of total GDP), the report said, these are basically businessmen friendly incentives.  

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There is no arrangement to overcome the fall of aggregate demand in the incentive packages, it said

The incentives also lack adequate allocation in ensuring food security and for about five crore jobless people in the informal sectors, TIB said.

For the agricultural sector, the Bangladeshi branch of the Berlin-based Transparency International said there is no incentive for small farmers and those who cultivate other lands. Farm loan waiver is not announced while middlemen have more opportunities to get loans in the marketing of agricultural products.

The loan defaulters have been facilitated to avail the opportunities of incentive, it said. 

Restriction on freedom of expression

Mentioning data from ARTICLE 19, a British human rights organization focused on the defense and promotion of freedom of expression, TIB said that 67 cases were filed and 37 journalists were sued under the Digital Security Act 2018 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic for publishing reports of relief maltreatment.

It said a total of 88 people, including journalists and cartoonists, were arrested in 79 incidents on charges of spreading misinformation and rumors about coronavirus on social media, according to CGS-DU.