Workers Party of Bangladesh on Thursday said the proposed budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year lacked specific direction against corruption.
WP president Rashed Khan Menon, also the tourism and civil aviation minister, replying to newsmen at a press conference organised by his party at its central office to give its reaction to the proposed budget, said that they had always been vocal against corruption and all the seven lawmakers of his party would remain vocal in the parliament on the issue.
He, however, claimed that the proposed budget would keep the country on the path of continuing development and that 7 per cent GDP growth was possible with the proposed budget.
The WP president said corruption had been eating up 2.5 per cent of the growth and demanded increased allocation in the health and education sectors that have been witnessing corruption and wastage of funds.
Earlier, reading out a written statement, the party general secretary Fazle Hossain Badsha said the issues of reducing corruption and establishing good governance were given no priority in the proposed budget.
He said that though the budget spoke about huge job creation, specific plans for job creation were not spelt out in the budget which might hinder poverty alleviation.
Allocation in the power and energy sector was increased, he said, alleging that though the price of oil decreased in the international market, the price was not adjusted in fixing the price of power.
It was not logical to extend the contracts of the rental power plants and even foreign investment in the power sector under special act would bring no good for the country, he said.
He said that though the proposed budget acknowledged that fair price could not be ensured for agricultural produces, it had not mentioned the measures to be taken to ensure fair prices for agricultural produces.
The WP general secretary demanded rationing system for rural and urban poor people, increasing allocation in education, health and information technology sectors, allocating Tk 500 crore for plain land ethnic minorities and full implementation of CHT treaty.
WP politburo member Quamrul Islam and former general secretary Bimol Biswas were also present on the occasion.
Source : New Age
