Improvements in design, coverage and disbursement urged to reach the marginalised group
Stimulus packages in Bangladesh had only limited employment impact. The share of total employment that could be reached through current state of implementation is around 8% which would have reached to 12% if fully implemented. Meanwhile, the total amount of Bangladesh’s stimulus packages was lower than neighbouring countries. With enhanced technical capacity and organised nature, large industries were well prepared to receive the stimulus packages with employment reach of around 46.5 lakh population. Whereas, slow implementation of stimulus packages for smaller firms and agriculture sector has not produced the expected results in view of employment protection and creation.
These findings emerged at a virtual dialogue titled “Employment Implications of Stimulus Packages: Challenges for Recovery”, organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Oxfam in Bangladesh in association with Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. The event was held virtually on Thursday, 5 November 2020. A key objective of the dialogue was to discuss the outcomes and implications of public policy interventions on employment dynamics induced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
The dialogue was organised as part of the project titled ‘Enhancing the participation of community-based organizations (CBOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic governance in Bangladesh’ which is being implemented by the CPD and the Oxfam in Bangladesh, with support from the European Union. The project aims to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the Government of Bangladesh in numeral areas.
Mr Towfiqul Islam Khan, Senior Research Fellow, CPD delivered the keynote presentation addressing the new realities arising from the COVID-19, that put a significant number of those in the labour market at risk of losing employment opportunities. He highlighted that Bangladesh ranked 22 and 23 out of 31 Asian countries in terms of its size of stimulus packages as a share of GDP and per capita measure. He also mentioned that a large share of the packages has not been implemented yet. The country’s commercial banks, except for BKB, have relatively less experience in providing agriculture loans. Marginalised groups including small entrepreneurs, informal workers, women, persons with disability, young entrepreneurs and new entrants in the labour market are more adversely impacted than others. He emphasised that more concentrated efforts will be required to fully implement the stimulus packages for the aforesaid groups.
Mr K. M. Abdus Salam, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of Bangladesh mentioned about long term flood alongside COVID-19 that hit the agriculture sector hard. Out of 31 directives provided by the Prime Minister, three specific directives are directly connected to employment. He further stressed that credit programmes from the NGOs need reconsideration to avail easier access.
Dr Nazneen Ahmed, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) talked about the RMG workers. Studies found that, after the reopening of garments factory within COVID-19, factory owners are only asking for young workers at the cost of experienced workers aged above 35 because of the fear of reduced productivity and health concern. So, those who lost their earning sources, need consideration alongside the marginalised groups for their livelihood. In conclusion, she said, those in need should get the highest reach from the stimulus packages.
Mr Razequzzaman Ratan, President, Socialist Labour Front, Bangladesh specially mentioned about low income groups who lost their earning sources and whose income reduced in COVID-19. Informal sectors are at bigger risk and it’s gradually increasing in this pandemic. He opined that Bangladesh need to focus more on domestic production e.g. agriculture/CMSMEs and less on export earnings.
Mr Kamran T Rahman, President, Bangladesh Employers’ Federation (BEF), enunciated that there is huge collapse in global demand, causing on negative impact livelihood and employment worldwide and Bangladesh is no exception. This might lead to recession. At the second wave of COVID-19, exporting countries’ demand fluctuation will make an impact if Bangladesh priotise export earnings. He added that, availing stimulus package via banks is not citizen friendly, thus it requires an easier process.
Ms Hosne Ara Begum, Executive Director, TMSS, expressed that categories of labour in informal sector should be identified. Seasonal changes and shifts often cause hazardous situations in the informal job sector. Micro-credits are usually provided to those involved in informal sector. Change in labour category causes difficulties in micro-credit provision.
Dr Md. Abu Eusuf, Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, stressed that at the macro level, the implementation of this stimulus package is not being properly tracked due to the lack of publicly available official data on them. Most of the packages are funded by tax-payers, so information dissemination through government department is important in this regard.
Professor Md Khalilur Rahman, Vice Principal of Gaibandha Govt. College and President of District network forum, Bangladesh commented on behalf of Char area, that the primary school teachers from private educational institutions and small entrepreneurs are not doing well amidst pandemic. Education sector is also an important aspect to look into.
Ms Joyonto Rani Das, CBO leader, Uddipto Mohila Unnayan Shangstha, Satkhira, highlighted that the Dalits are the most left behind in all sectors – education, work, agriculture, health and so on. Dalit women are more affected as they face both social stigma along with sexism. Training for employment and partial-credit provisions would render helpful.
Md Ferdous Alam, Project Coordinator, POPI, Kishoreganj, mentioned that child marriage has increased due to COVID-induced unemployment. The stimulus packages are being provided to pay back the outstanding loans. This hinders the main purpose of the stimulus packages provided.
Mr Subrata Dutta, CBO leader, Maheshkhali, expressed that reverse migration is an occurrence in Moheshkhali. Lean season unemployment scenario should be taken into account when preparing stimulus packages. Credit with easy terms and conditions is required.
Mr Mostafizur Rahman, CBO leader, JAGO NARI, Barguna, highlighted that stimulus packages for the youth were of very negligible amount. Much is not known about the packages for the youth. The package for youth was not distributed among the real needy or affected.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow of CPD commented that the design of the stimulus packages should put more emphasis on employment protection and support for the marginalised workers and section of population and their effective disbursement should be ensured.
“Although the initiative of stimulus packages was timely, the implementation process was not proper. Non-state actors should be aligned with the state actors. Without GO-NGO collaboration, proper implementation of the stimulus package is not possible. The diversified groups of labourers should be taken into account keeping the informal sector in mind. A much more disaggregated approach is necessary. Government ministries involved in the process need to be more cautious.”- stated by Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow of CPD and Convenor of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh while summarising overall insights from the dialogue.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD delivered introductory remarks mentioning COVID-19 induced negative impacts on employment; especially in informal sectors and Mr Mohammad Soeb Iftekhar, Head of Economic Inclusion and Justice, Oxfam in Bangladesh provided a brief introduction about the programme.
The discussion session was attended by around 150 people including development professionals, academicians, private sector representatives, NGO workers and journalists.