Speakers at a pre-budget discussion yesterday called for a village-centric and employment-generating budget for the next fiscal for cutting poverty.

They said the government must support agriculture sector through budgetary measures as it is the backbone of the country's economy. They also urged the government to make investment in farm that generates more employment than any other sector.

They also said the government should increase allocation in education, health and other social sectors and curtail allocation in defence.

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) organised the discussion in Dhaka ahead of the FY 2004-2005 national budget to be placed in the Jatiya Sangshad on June 10.

Addressing the discussion, Professor Rehman Sobhan, chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the government should specifically mention in the budget the number of projects meant for poverty reduction in villages.

"The government should also set specific targets in budget that how many people will be able to come out of poverty through the projects. If there is no any specific target, poverty reduction will remain confined to political rhetoric," the veteran economist observed.

He put emphasis on creative thinking in policies, saying if government now adopts reform measures of 1980s the steps will not succeed. "So far 70 to 80 countries in different continents adopt PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) but I wonder knowing that all the PRSPs are same in content," he said.

Professor Kholiquzzaman, president of Bangladesh Economic Association, said the government must focus on villages and fund should go to rural people.

"There should be a balance between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors. The government must have political commitment to do good for people," he said.

Presenting a paper titled "The Coming Budget and Poverty Reduction", MM Akash of Dhaka University, said policies the governments adopting are not reducing poverty.

"What governments should do is to provide funds for employment generation so that poor people can get self-reliant," he said.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, research director of CPD, said as phaseout of quota for readymade garment (RMG) comes into force in the next year the coming budget should have measures to face the challenges.

"Big RMG manufacturers may not lose market but small ones will face the brunt which may result in huge unemployment. So, the next budget should have more job-creating projects," he said.

Moderated by Tajul Islam of Jahangirnagar University, the discussion was also attended by Professor Anisur Rahman, Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of CPB, and Professor Moinul Islam of Chittagong University.