Noted economist and Distinguished Fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya has said people are not aware of the pro-poor programme initiatives taken by the government.

Political and administrative members are responsible for promoting these food-friendly programmes to the locals, said the economist while speaking delivering the keynote speech at a dialogue titled "How can voices of disadvantaged people be reflected in the national budget during the IMF period".

At the event organised by the research organisation Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and its citizen platform in the capital's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Monday (15 May), Debapriya said, "Supply is less than demand in food friendly programmes."

Pointing out irregularities in the distribution of rice under the government's food-friendly programme in Dinajpur's Chehelgazi Union, he said, there are various issues such as poor quality and less quantity of rice.

Debapriya Bhattacharya also said Bangladesh is at risk of being discriminated against while implementing the IMF's conditions.

He advised taking the initiatives for the implementation carefully, taking into account opinions of people from all sectors concerned. Otherwise Bangladesh will become further discriminated against, he said.

He further said inequality has increased in countries which have taken loans under the IMF's conditions.

Debapriya said, according to the data of the Bureau of Statistics, poverty has decreased but inequality has increased. The disparity has also increased, alongside consumption inequality, he said.

He, however, noted that data on wealth inequality was not available.

He also expressed doubts about how much reform could be done depending on indirect taxes.

Debapriya recommended the government should maintain a balance between sectors in terms of reforms and sectoral disparity in development should be eliminated.

He also emphasised the need to raise direct taxes.