KHULNA: Speakers at a meeting on Wednesday said that the coastal people are neglected from social safety net programmes of government including cash transfer programmes, namely the old age allowance, allowance for widowed, distressed and destitute women and allowance for financial insolvent persons with disabilities.
They said, the south-western coastal belt of Bangladesh is one of the most disaster prone zones in the world where storm, cyclone, tidal surge, drought, river erosion and water-logging are now common.
They urged the government should widen its social safety net programs in the upcoming national budget to continue support to the coastal marginalised population,
The speakers made these comments at a Sub-national level consultation meeting held at a hotel in the city.
Deputy Director of Local Government Affairs, Khulna district Md Yusuf Ali addressed the programme as chief guest.
Among others, Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department, Khulna Khan Motahar Hossain, Khulna District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer Md Abdul Karim, Agriculture Engineer Dipongkar Bala, Executive Director of Sundarban Academy, Khulna Prof Anowarul Quadir, President of Khulna Press Club SM Nazrul Islam, President of Khulna Union of Journalists (KUJ) Md Faruk Ahmed, spoke on the occasion.