Farzana Sharmin says the govt is rechecking safety net beneficiary lists

State minister for social welfare Farzana Sharmin told the House on Sunday that the government has taken an initiative to recheck the beneficiary lists of various social safety net programmes to remove ineligible individuals and ensure that support reaches genuine recipients.

“We are trying to identify the genuine beneficiaries on the lists. We will work to provide different allowances under the social safety net to eligible people. The lists must be corrected by reshuffling them and rechecking beneficiaries at the grassroots level… We have already started working accordingly,” she said.

The state minister made the remarks while responding to a supplementary question from opposition lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury (Chattogram-15) during the question-and-answer session in the Jatiya Sangsad.

In his question, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker asked whether the government would take steps to address irregularities and corruption in social safety programmes.

Responding, Sharmin said former prime minister Khaleda Zia had introduced the social safety net programmes, but various forms of nepotism later emerged during the preparation of beneficiary lists.

She said the government has decided to form committees at the upazila level to review and verify beneficiary lists under different social safety-net programmes.

“We have taken a decision to form committees in different upazilas so the lists can be properly rechecked and deserving people can receive the cards and benefits. Our goal is to improve people’s living standards. We must remain sincere so that the real people receive the allowances,” Sharmin said.

Replying to a starred question from treasury bench lawmaker Zainul Abidin Farroque, she said the existing beneficiary lists are currently being re-examined to determine who are genuinely eligible to receive benefits under the programmes.

She added that beneficiary lists prepared during the “fascist regime” would also be scrutinised to address irregularities.

“We are taking feedback so that we can move towards a solution after addressing the irregularities that exist in the different social safety net allowances,” she said.

Responding to another supplementary question from Gazi Nazrul Islam (Satkhira-4), the state minister said the government would also consider including any previously unidentified sectors deemed eligible for social safety schemes to ensure benefits reach the real recipients.

Sharmin added that the present government is working with utmost sincerity while setting aside nepotism, citing the recent rollout of the ‘Family Card’ as an example.