A SLOW progress in the scrutiny of TCB family cards that the government began to select the most eligible beneficiaries to help them to buy some essential goods for subsidised prices is unwarranted. The authorities are scrutinising the one crore cards that the past government issued and have so far verified and delivered 57 lakh smart cards to local administration offices for nationwide distribution. The commerce adviser on April 23 said that there were widespread irregularities in beneficiary selection in the past, hoping to set the process right. Irregularities in the selection process have made the headlines since it began in March 2022. In August that year, a Transparency International Bangladesh report found that three in every four family cards went to individuals financially well off or loyal to ruling quarters. The report found that 76.1 per cent of the people who have received the family cards are well off, 65 per cent are local representatives and their relatives, 44.5 per cent locally influential people, 7.1 per cent government officials, employees and their families and 5.2 per cent聽dealers selling the subsidised goods.
In such a situation, a thorough scrutiny of the family cards is needed as they are meant to help the poor and low-income people. What is, however, worrying is that the irregularities in the TCB family card programme follow the same pattern of irregularities that plague other social safety net programmes, which include a number of specific poverty reduction plans. For an example, a 2023 Centre for Policy Dialogue survey found that almost half of the beneficiaries of two social safety programmes, old-age allowance and allowance for widows, were not eligible for the allowances while about half of the eligible candidates remained outside the programmes. The survey finds about 30 per cent old age and 33 per cent widows to be ineligible beneficiaries. Such irregularities in social safety net programmes are believed to result from mismanagement, corruption and high targeting errors 鈥� the inclusion of wrong people and the exclusion of the eligible. Local representatives, mostly responsible for the enlistment and selection of the beneficiaries, were reported to indulge in corruption. It was also found that fake names and addresses were used. What is also shocking is that many eligible beneficiaries were made to pay bribes for the benefits.
The authorities should, therefore, address the issue sincerely and ensure that only eligible people get the benefits of social safety net programmes. The authorities should expedite the scrutiny and distribution of the TCB cards and include more essential goods in the programme.
