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They beg but don't like to be called beggars

Title of rehabilitation programme to be changed

Staff Correspondent
Beggars in the capital who are being rehabilitated by the government under a social safety net programme will not be identified as beggars.
Finance minister AMA Muhith at a meeting yesterday asked the social welfare ministry to change the title of the programme -- formerly referred to as the Beggar Rehabilitation Programme - to save beggars from embarrassment.
Muhith also said that some new programmes will be included in the safety net programme for underprivileged people in the society as eunuchs and nomadic communities.
The meeting on social safety net programmes was held at the finance ministry conference room.
At the meeting Social Welfare Minister Enamul Haque Mostafa Shaheed told the finance minister that beggars who took part in the survey objected to being described as beggars or paupers.
The beggars had said that even though they beg in the streets of Dhaka, when they go back to their villages they tell people they workin garments factories or else, to save face. The social welfare minister told reporters afterwards that beggars when asked what they want for their rehabilitation said they don't like to be identified as beggars in their locality.
The government has selected 2,000 beggars in a pilot project to be implemented by June. Some 500 people will be rehabilitated in Mymensingh in the first phase of the project, the minister said. They will be given rickshaws, rickshaw vans or huts as part of the programme.
Others will be settled in Jamalpur, Dhaka and Barisal districts.
The finance minister, meanwhile, told reporters that allocation for social safety net programmes will be increased in the upcoming budget. This will bring more beneficiaries under a
number of programmes including the allowance for the elderly, maternity allow-ance and support for widow's initiatives.
However, the amount of allowance may not be raised due to fund constraints.
The finance minister said over 60 lakh families are benefiting from the safety net programmes at present. The government spends 2.3 percent of GDP in these programmes every year he said.
Muhith also told reporters that Bangladesh's safety net programme is much discussed in different countries. He said he has pre-sented details of Bangladesh's safety net programme at the annual conference of Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently.