Data by the finance ministry showed that the allocation for the pensions and interest payments account for 30 percent of the total social security programme fund of Tk 126,090 crore for the current fiscal year of 2023-24.

Without a robust selection mechanism capable of identifying the most deserving families, the vision for a comprehensive and inclusive social protection system will remain unfulfilled.

Even though poor people are struggling to make ends meet amid runaway inflation, the government allocation for social safety net programmes may not increase much in the next fiscal year.

The government has a huge task ahead in terms of making its social security programmes effective.