SOCIAL SAFETY NET | Old age allowances grossly inadequate : Recipients say
Shamsul Huda, a beneficiary of the government's social safety net programmes, lives in a rickety little tin- shack in Noboganga area under Paba upazila of Rajshahi. With a mud-oven and two bamboo benches out front, the ramshackle structure resembles a shop more than it does a home. However, this is with good reason as Huda once used to sell tea and dry food items from the stall. "But it has become by home now," the 82-year-old said while describing how the government allowance he receives has fallen short of protecting him from complete poverty. Huda was 65 when he first started getting an old age allowance from the government in 2005. The shop still provided an income at the time and his sons where there to help out too. "I was doing well back then with all these helps," he said. But even though the monthly old age allowance was increased to Tk 500 from Tk 180 in fiscal year 2016-17, Huda's growing age and deteriorating health eventually caught up to him.