Local, mail, and commuter trains, which once played a key role in the rural economy by providing affordable transport for poor people and facilitating the movement of agricultural and small-scale industrial goods, are being shut down one after another due to shortages of locomotives, coaches, wagons, and manpower.
The shift to an almost 100% online ticketing system has made intercity train travel difficult for poor people who lack access to the internet, mobile financial services, and online banking.
Additionally, a decision made in April to cancel the distance-based concession has resulted in higher train fares for journeys over 100 kilometres since the first week of May.
Yet, 89.51% of the money allocated to the Ministry of Railways is said to contribute to poverty alleviation, according to the medium-term budgetary frameworks presented with the national budget proposal for FY2024-25.
Although the size of the entire budget is proposed to be increased by only 4.62%, the allocation of the Statistics and Informatics Division alone is to increase by more than 59% in the next fiscal year compared with the current fiscal.
However, 93.60% of the proposed allocation worth Tk662.08 crore for the division would go to salary, administration, training, charges and commissions, fuel and lubricants, travel, printing, honorariums and block allocation.
Cost for training, professional services honorariums, special expenses and block allocation of the division are to increase by over 100% while the administrative expenses, fees charges and commissions are to increase by more than half.
The finance ministry claimed that 96.22% of the total proposed allocation prioritising operational expenditure, will contribute to poverty alleviation.
According to the Finance Division, out of the proposed Tk7.97 lakh crore budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Tk4.61 lakh crore – or about 58% of the budget – will be spent on poverty alleviation.
Out of this, Tk3.10 lakh crore or 38.88% of the total budget would impact directly to poverty reduction while Tk1.52 lakh crore or 19% of the budget would impact indirectly.
Economists and experts believe that there is no huge opportunity to play a large role in poverty alleviation through the government budget based on operational expenditure.
They claimed that operational expenditure does not play any role in poverty alleviation, and the government includes such allocation with the poverty budget to show it as an inflated figure.
The Bridges Division works for socio-economic development by ensuring an integrated transport system through the construction and maintenance of infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, flyovers, expressways and subways.
The development allocation for the division in the next fiscal to be reduced by about 20% as the projects regarding the construction of Padma Bridge and Karnaphuli tunnel are to be concluded in the current fiscal, which reflects an increase in the proportion of operational expenses.
The budget document also claimed that 96.91% or Tk7092 crores of the proposed allocation of Tk7318 crore for this bridge section would be spent on poverty alleviation.
Similarly, the Finance Division claimed that 82.80% of the proposed allocation of Tk38,143 crore for the Road Transport and Highways Division will be spent on poverty alleviation.
Policy Research Institute Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur expressed his confusion about how projects like bridges, tunnels, and flyovers directly contribute to poverty alleviation.
He said that less than 19% of the people in Bangladesh are currently living below the poverty line.
“Would not anyone else use these infrastructures outside of the poverty group?" he asked.
He further said the main objective of building large-scale transport infrastructure is to create a better business and trade environment. Traders are the main beneficiaries of this, while such projects in the long run may create some jobs for the poor.
It would never be right to claim that such infrastructure has been created only for the sake of the poor, the economist said.
Professor Hadiuzzaman at the Department of Civil Engineering of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and also an expert on public transportation, stated that spending on infrastructure could indirectly reduce the poverty rate if the investments are based on thorough feasibility studies and the projects are completed within the stipulated time and budget.
“There is a hyper concentricity in the investment of railways towards infrastructure and negligence of operation. New areas have been covered by the railways, but the quality of service on the existing lines has been declining in recent times. I don't think the investment in this sector will go to the poor as most of the local trains are closed,” he said.
He also said mandatory tolls are required to access all of the infrastructure developed by the bridges division. The roads and transport division is also keen to impose tolls to access most of the important roads.
Investment for infrastructure to be operated under a toll system would not be considered as poverty reduction allocation, he added.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun expressed surprise at the fact that more than 96% of allocation for the Statistics and Informatics Division is playing a role in ending poverty.
She said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) do not even have the exact number of poor and unemployed people.
“How their spending on salaries, electronic gadgets or motor fuel could contribute to poverty alleviation?" she asked.
Despite the fact that the number of climate refugees increases every year in addition to the socio-economic losses due to the failure to deal with the effects of environmental pollution and climate change, the Ministry of Finance claims that more than 63% of the allocation for the Ministry of Environment, forest and climate change contributes to poverty alleviation.
Only 48% of the total allocation will be spent on poverty alleviation in favour of the Internal Resources Division, which plays a major role in government revenue collection.
And only 45% of allocation in favour of the medical education and family welfare division is projected for poverty reduction.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (55.96%), The Ministry of Defense (59.96%) and the ICT Division (71.87%) are playing better poverty reduction roles than the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division.
Around 35% of the proposed allocation for the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division is said to have an impact on poverty alleviation.
The finance division says Tk40.79 out of every Tk100 allocated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will contribute to poverty alleviation of the country.
Experts and economists said the government's allocations had included the poverty alleviation goal without any assessment.
“It is being said during the allocation that this much is for the poor. Whether it actually goes to the poor is never analysed. There is no such verification attempt too, he said, terming the tagging process completely meaningless,” Dr Ahsan H Mansur said.
Dr Fahmida Khatun said the share of government allocation that goes directly into the hands of the poor should only be considered as a contribution to poverty alleviation.
“This can be through product support or cash through the social safety net," she added.
