Impact of Social Safety Net Programs In Seasonal Deprivation

Around the globe, there are varying types of social safety net instruments used by the governments, NGOs, microfinance institutions and private entities. The extent of hardship and welfare of the vulnerable and poor households largely depends on the effectiveness and adequate coverage of these safety net measures. Researchers have found in large number of instances that these instruments are quite useful and have substantial welfare and anti poverty impact on the recipient households. monga is a recurrent case of seasonal deprivation that forces a large number of households in the northern region namely – Greater Rangpur, suffer from occasional starvation, consumption rationing and induces poor households to sell advance labor, crops and assets. The Bangladesh government has been operating a number of social safety net programs – cash or in kind - in this part to reduce the vulnerability of households during monga pledging a long term solution. The study examines the impact of the social safety net programs on the welfare of the poor households during seasonal deprivation –called monga, in the five districts of Greater Rangpur namely Lalmonirhat. Nilphamari, Kurigram, Gaibandha and Rangpur. The study finds that VGD/VGF has strong positive effect in reducing poverty while old age pension has no such contribution. The findings also suggest that highly vulnerable groups such as day laborers, beggars are left out from the benefit of social safety net programs due to their limited coverage and size.