Experts have called for a more people-centred national budget for the 2026-2027 financial year(FY2026-27) to ensure the inclusion and welfare of marginal communities across the country.
They emphasized farmers, rural women, indigenous peoples, youth, and the urban poor continue to receive an unequal share of development benefits despite contributing to the national economy.
At a roundtable on Monday speakers urged the government to prepare such a pro-people budget, saying, farmers, rural women, indigenous communities, youth and the urban poor are still not receiving fair benefits from state development programmes.
The discussion organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), was held at a city auditorium in the capital.
ALRD Executive Director Shamsul Huda chaired the roundtable while representatives from grassroots organisations and regional development groups also attended the roundtable and shared their recommendations for a more inclusive and welfare-oriented national budget.
Speakers pointed out although the government collects taxes from all citizens, development benefits are not distributed equally, stressing that forthcoming FY2026-27 should focus more on public welfare instead of only large infrastructure projects.
Journalist Sohrab Hassan, editor of online portal 'Charcha', said inequality still exists in different forms despite the abolition of the zamindari system many years back. Women workers continue to face wage discrimination and many rural people remain outside the benefits of development, he added.
He further said the political parties talk about women's rights, but effective steps are still lacking to ensure fair wages and proper opportunities for women.
Thanking the government for recent decisions on farmers' loan waivers, he said such initiatives can help reduce pressure on struggling rural families.
Journalist Abu Sayeed Khan said the national budget should be designed for people, not only for projects, adding, many marginal communities are deprived because policymaking often ignores their real-life struggles.
He noted health and education services are becoming increasingly commercialised, making it difficult for poor families to access quality services. Many grassroots farmers cannot even identify themselves officially as farmers because they do not own land or receive institutional support, he added.
The definition of farmers should be reviewed so that women farmers are also properly recognised.
ALRD presented a set of recommendations for the upcoming national budget, demanding wider distribution of government "Farmer Cards" for marginal farmers and "Family Cards" for poor rural women.
Participants called for increased allocations to ensure fair crop prices, agricultural insurance, climate-friendly farming technology and easier access to low-interest loans.
Special emphasis was laid on rural women, who speakers said suffer heavily from poverty, unequal wages and lack of social protection. They proposed separate budget allocations for women entrepreneurs, legal aid services, protection centres for violence survivors and digital marketing training for small rural businesses.
Speakers also demanded a separate census for indigenous people, a dedicated ministry for plain land indigenous communities and stronger budget transparency regarding spending in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region.
For young people, participants proposed greater investment in job training, entrepreneurship, digital skills, mental health support and safe migration opportunities, and called for affordable housing and social safety programmes for the growing urban poor population.
The speakers further stressed the need for land reform, wetland protection and stronger monitoring systems to prevent misuse of public land and resources.
