TBT Desk: Experts on Tuesday urged the government to substantially increase the budgetary allocation for children in the fiscal year 2025-26 and suggested proper monitoring at the expenditure level for the upliftment of the children.
This call was made at a session on child friendly budget discussion during a day-long event "People-Centered Budget Thinking" held at the capital's CIRDAP auditorium, organized by Nagorik Bikash O Kalyan (Nabik).
With Professor Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Stamford University, in the chair, a concept paper was presented by Zafar Sadiq, an adviser of Save the Children in Bangladesh.
They said merely allocating funds on paper is not enough rather effective implementation and proper monitoring are essential for a truly child-friendly budget.
Zafar Sadiq said that at least 20 percent of the national budget should be allocated for children and it have to be spent on education, healthcare, and child protection.
He also stressed the importance of presenting this allocation separately and ensuring mechanisms for its oversight and execution.
Former BNP lawmaker Abul Kalam Azad commented that budget practices often lack transparency, noting that the allocation for children is insufficient, preventing them from proper development, which also hampers the nation's future.
Economist Dr Omar Faruq said research indicating that 92 percent of school-going children are exposed to pornography. He also observed the dire shortage of daycare centers in Dhaka, with only around 100 centers, a number which he mentioned as grossly inadequate.
Child organizer Zakaria Habib Pilot criticized the lack of public participation in the parliamentary budgeting process, saying without incorporating children's needs in the national budget, equitable and balanced future allocations would be impossible.
Entrepreneurs Shamim Ashraf and Tahmina Rahman Sathi demanding for giving priority in the budget to children's mental development and digital safety.